Jabari Smith Jr. Has Found the Perfect Role Within the Rockets

In terms of purely evaluating a player based on their draft position, Jabari Smith Jr. hasn't been the player people expected. The third overall pick is usually slotted for a potential franchise star.

But that's okay because, in many ways, Smith has been the perfect piece in the Houston Rockets puzzle of title contention.

At 12-4, there's still plenty of basketball to play, with time for the Rockets to cool off. However, they have benefited greatly from their scheme on both sides of the floor, posting the second-best offensive rating (122) in the league and third-best defensive rating (111.1).

Of all starters, Smith has benefited the most from Ime Udoka's strategy. This season, with the addition of Kevin Durant and absence of Fred VanVleet (torn ACL), Houston has leaned into height, and it has paid dividends.

The Rockets are on pace to break the record for offensive rebounding percentage, grabbing nearly half of their misses (41.2%). Yes, the double-big lineup of Alperen Sengun and Steven Adams has contributed to that in a major way, but so has having giant wings such as Smith, Durant and Amen Thompson out there.

So what about Smith, specifically? The 6-foot-11 wing has seen a minutes increase, and with that, his production. He's averaging 15.1 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game, shooting 44.3% from the field and 39.1% from three. Yes, he can still get buckets in the paint, but an expanded role has also done so to his play style.

Smith has become somewhat of a mini-Durant, able to score off the dribble and the catch while expanding his range. He's the fourth option when surrounded by the starters, and typically plays into the catch-and-shoot extremely well, at least 16 games into the season.

Smith has actually taken on the challenge of shooting more, taking a career-high 5.8 threes a night, which is second behind Reed Sheppard. He has become a go-to spot-up shooter, able to knock down deep attempts over smaller defenders as an oversized wing.

It's no secret that Smith is a major reason why Houston ranks 30th in three-point attempts (30.9 per game), yet second in three-point percentage (40.9%). Like the rest of the Rockets, he is efficient.

Yes, Durant and Sengun are looking like an All-Star and potentially an All-NBA duo in Houston. But of the rotation players (outside of Sheppard), Smith has been the biggest beneficiary of a refined system and player development.

He knows his role, but plays it so well, learning from one of the greatest scorers of all time. The Rockets need him more than people think, especially down the road when a title is up of grabs.