Houston Rockets general manager Rafael Stone laid it all out for Jabari Smith Jr. at the end of last season: you’re a very good shooter, but the expectation? You gotta become an elite one. That’s the mission for Smith as he rolls into his fifth season, penciled in as the starting power forward, and honestly, the Rockets absolutely need him to step up.
From “Solid” to “Elite”: The Offensive Leap Houston Needs
Last season, Jabari Smith Jr. was a rock for coach Ime Udoka, playing and starting 77 games. He was just *solid* at a bunch of things, a reliable supplementary piece. He racked up career-highs in minutes at 35.1, points with 15.8, and assists clocking in at 1.9, even hitting a career-best effective field goal percentage of 54.1%. But here’s the thing: while that sounds good, a lot of his offensive game was, well, waiting. Almost 80% of his makes and a staggering 97% of his three-pointers came off assists, usually from him just hanging out in the corner when defenses collapsed on his teammates. His 36.3% from deep was “solid,” sure, but it was “unspectacular” when you consider how wide open those looks were. He did show some flashes, shooting career-bests at the rim and on midrange shots, looking best when he was decisive, cutting through traffic and using his height and wingspan to rise up. But creating for himself? That’s still a work in progress.
The Defensive Anchor Who Could Do More
Defensively, Smith was quietly a beast. He took on the big boys like Julius Randle, Zion Williamson, Kawhi Leonard, and Chet Holmgren, holding his own on the perimeter. And while the Rockets didn’t ask him to defend the rim a ton, the dude is a high-level rim protector. Opponents shot a whopping 6.3 percentage points worse when he was guarding them at the rim, a mark that puts him in the 75th percentile among power forwards! That’s not just “solid,” that’s legit, even if it was a smaller sample size. Advanced metrics back it up too, with estimated plus-minus rating him in the 78th percentile among all players and DARKO putting him in the 77th percentile among forwards. For the upcoming season, his role should be similar: stretching the floor on offense and locking down one of the opponent’s best forwards on defense. But the big question remains: can his solid skills, especially that rim protection, blossom into something truly elite with more volume?
So, what are we watching for in those crucial first 20 games of the 2026-27 season? Can Jabari Smith Jr. transform that “very good” shooting into “elite” status? Can he maintain that killer perimeter defense while stepping up his rim protection to an even higher volume? If he can become that stretch, rim-protecting big man Houston desperately needs, he’d be the perfect complement to Alperen Şengün, and the Rockets would suddenly have a whole new dimension. This season isn’t just about playing solid anymore, it’s about hitting that next gear.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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