Jabari Smith Jr. is a big piece of the Houston Rockets’ future.
Now, he has a perfect idol to look up to: Kevin Durant.
The Rockets made a big trade for Durant in the offseason, and it’s the perfect opportunity for Smith to learn from the best.
In a Sports Illustrated cover story, writer Chris Mannix broke down the Smith and Durant relationship like this:
For his part, Durant is eager to help. Last summer, Smith resolved to develop his one-on-one game. After the trade went down, Smith linked up with Durant in Houston for some individual workouts. No better model for a near 7-foot would-be isolation scorer than the greatest near 7-foot iso scorer who ever lived. Smith marveled at the precision of Durant’s movements, his attention to detail, how every shot he took was at game speed. “He’s a perfectionist,” says Smith. “That really rubs off on you.”
The pair of players that measure somewhere between 6-10 and 7-feet, depending on how accurate you really want the tape measure to be (with KD likely coming up short of reality for most of his career), are gifted at many things.
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Durant, of course, has turned that into one of the best careers in NBA history.
Smith still has a lot of work to do.
The former Auburn star Smith wasn’t picked quite as high as Durant (2nd), going No. 3 in the 2022 draft. But they’ve got that high draft pick status, too.
Smith came in letting it fly right away and has scored in double figures in each of his first three seasons.
Last season, Smith averaged 12.2 points and 7.0 rebounds per game while knocking down 35.4% of his 3-pointers.
If Durant can help him boost those numbers, it will have made the KD acquisition even more worthwhile than it would be just for getting Durant on the Houston roster in the first place.
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