12/18/2022 0 Comments Type to learn jr.3Overall, he’s shooting 45.3 percent from 3 on five attempts per game. A quarter of his offensive possessions are spot-ups, and he’s getting 1.31 points per possession on those looks, most often hitting from 3 on catch-and-shoot attempts or one-dribble pull-ups. He’s operating primarily as an off-the-catch player, and through 15 games he’s been very efficient at it. That said, Auburn has a fairly balanced roster that doesn’t depend on Jabari to create shots for others. Suffice it to say it’s an ideal scenario for a player of Smith’s talent. In his offense, players seem to feel empowered to take chances and aggressively hunt perimeter looks. 1 pick, ahead of other skilled big men like Holmgren and Banchero? Or is Jabari’s surge to the top of many mock drafts a case of recency bias? Let’s take a (much) closer look at the freshman phenom’s game and see whether we can answer those questions.Īuburn coach Bruce Pearl is an offensive guy (either interpretation of the phrase applies, depending on who you are), and sometimes I swear he uses the Westworld 3-D printer to churn out scoring lead guards who have the confidence of Dame Lillard. I’d say he’s more of an oversize wing than a skinny 4 at this point, projecting as someone who could add size and length to lineups without a true center.īut should he be the no. He stands 6-foot-10 and has a 7-foot-2 wingspan, and by his own words, he’s put on about 20 pounds since arriving at Auburn. He’s heavily perimeter-oriented, and has a leaner body type that is in the process of filling out. Jabari’s game is a modern version of his dad’s, and his frame puts him in a position to pull that off. He’s the son of a player who might pop up in a random bit of NBA trivia, Jabari Smith Sr.- a soft-shooting traditional 5 who starred for LSU for two seasons at the turn of the millennium (next to Stromile Swift, I might add), and then had a few cups of coffee with the Kings, the 76ers, and finally the Nets. He’s been impressive, but he quietly built his skill set at Sandy Creek High School in Tyrone, Georgia. He’s hung around in the top 10 of his class for the past few years, and yet he’s much less heralded than Chet Holmgren or Paolo Banchero. This phenomenon appears to be unfolding again with Jabari Smith Jr. We do this every year, this thing where we keep an eye on the player hovering outside the mainstream conversation and ask “. Hampton or Nico Mannion being ranked ahead of LaMelo Ball. (Good lord, did I whiff on that one.) Think about Josh Jackson, who was ranked NUMBER ONE in the 2016 high school class over Jayson Tatum, Lonzo Ball, De’Aaron Fox, Jonathan Isaac, Bam Adebayo, Miles Bridges, and Jarrett Allen. Think about Marvin Bagley III, who was consistently ranked ahead of Jaren Jackson Jr. Sometimes ultra-talents will hide in plain sight, overshadowed by peers who peaked earlier in skill set or in physicality. The NBA draft dialogue is like a weather system: warm and cold fronts roll in and roll out, propelled by atmospheric pressures-overreactions to thrilling glimpses, dismissals of players who seem to have let us down, or intel that came from god-knows-where.
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