Jabari Smith Jr. Could Unlock The Rockets' Offense Next Season

The Houston Rockets are going into next season banking on some growth from the young players on the roster and the return of the impact veterans. While there may be some moves along the margins during the offseason, the main pieces are likely to stay intact as the Rockets seem content to run it back with their current core.

One of the main pieces acquired through the draft is Jabari Smith Jr., once a prospect tauted for his ability to space the floor and take one to two dribbles to his spots in the mid range. While his elite shooting percentage in college hasn't translated to the NBA, his performance sees an uptick in the postseason,

If Smith Jr. can improve his shooting throughout the season, he could help the Rockets elevate to an elite level.

Smith Jr. joins Fred VanVleet, Reed Sheppard, and Kevin Durant as the team's only viable shooters from deep. Out of those players, Smith Jr. is the only one who consistently requires another player like Amen Thompson, Alperen Şengün, or the previously mentioned guards to create efficient shots for him.

When a ball handler can get into the paint on an attack, Smith Jr. is often open on the perimeter as teams gamble on his inconsistency from deep.

In the playoffs, teams could no longer afford to give him the space from range, but that level of performance hasn't been consistent throughout the regular season.

Houston's inability to hit shots at a high rate from deep created more pressure for Durant to handle the ball from the top of the key, inviting double teams that generally resulted in poor offensive possessions for the Rockets.

As Tari Eason's shooting faded, and as the Rockets learned they wouldn't get much from Dorian Finney-Smith, the shooting responsinbilities fell solely on Durant's shoulders if the Rockets wanted quality shooting away from the basket.

Even the shooting near the basket was rough at times. Şengün still hasn't figured out a way to improve his shooting percentage around the rim, and Thompson often shied away from shooting at the rim because of how teams guarded him.

The Rockets simply have to make shots to avoid these outcomes next season. The core still has enough defense to compete, and now they'll have a bit better control of the ball with VanVleet's return. Smith Jr. himself could make everyone's life easier by hitting shots during the regular season at the same rate he hit them in the playoffs.

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