It hasn’t been a linear trend towards success for this Houston Rockets rebuild.
There have been peaks and valleys. At times, it has looked like the Rockets had one of the brightest futures in the NBA. There’s been plenty of gloom and doom as well. As is often the case, the truth is likely somewhere in the middle.
All of the Rockets’ young players have shown potential. The problem is that none have emerged as a true franchise player. That leaves us all waiting for one of these young Rockets to “step
up”.
According to the latest polls, you think Jabari Smith Jr. is the man for the job.
Jabari Smith Jr. voted most likely to “take the next step”
I know…I know. The poll question was not “Is Jabari Smith Jr. a franchise-caliber player”? Maybe I’ve got writer’s block, maybe every NBA writer has writer’s block during the summer until their team makes a splashy acquisition.
What you actually voted for was Smith Jr. to step up ahead of Tari Eason next year. That makes sense. Eason is a couple of years older than Smith Jr., which gives Smith Jr. a longer runway for improvement. Eason has also been generally better than Smith Jr., so the latter’s bar for “stepping up” is lower.
The question is, what does stepping up look like for Smith Jr.?
Rockets’ Smith Jr. has room to grow
Resisting the urge to claim that you voted this way because I’d recently written a whole article about Smith Jr. stepping up.
Joking. I know I don’t have that influence. Again, writer’s block. Trying to be funny. Words.
To reiterate: There are two clear paths to improvement for Smith Jr. One is to simply improve his three-point shooting, and the other is to explore his midrange game more thoroughly.
As the roster is constructed, that midrange game might be difficult to probe. Between Kevin Durant and Alperen Sengun, that part of the floor is largely occupied. So, an increase in three-point efficiency (and, ideally, volume) seems like the more available path.
If Smith Jr. can take strides, the Rockets should win more games. If you happen to want to bet on how many games they might win (or anything else), head on over to FanDuel, who sponser our SB Nation Reacts polls. There are plenty of bets available that feature the Rockets.
