For some NBA fans, the line between star and role player is rigid. It does not yield. If you’re a star, you’re invaluable. If you’re a role player, you’re dispensable.
It’s too narrow a way of looking at basketball.
Jaden McDaniels does more for your team than Zach LaVine if you want to win a championship. He just does. Yes, LaVine can score more. He can produce more offense. He’s “better” if skill is the metric. If impact is the metric, the role player is better than the star player in this case.
Jabari Smith Jr. is on pace to be that guy for the Houston Rockets:
Rockets’ Jabari Smith Jr.‘s development has been interesting
It’s been a question throughout Smith Jr.‘s career.
The consensus seems to be that he’s a role player. Smith Jr. is a 3-and-D wing. His ability to play every frontcourt position makes him valuable, but he’s not a creator.
Well, it’s getting complicated. Smith Jr. is averaging a career-high 15.4 points per game. It’s not immediately clear exactly how.
Please don’t ask me about Smith Jr.‘s Points Per Possession (PPP) in isolation. I wish I knew. Interestingly, it seems no Rocket has isolated frequently enough to meet NBA.com’s threshold for tracking. That’s odd considering the team’s 10.8% isolation frequency ranks second in the NBA. Either NBA.com needs to be updated, I’m just reading it wrong (though I looked really hard!), or the Rockets spread the wealth extremely thin.
Anyway, Usage % doesn’t tell the whole story either. Smith Jr.‘s 17.6% Usage Rate is up significantly from last year’s 16.0%, but it’s not even a career-high. That doesn’t explain his increased output:
But his shooting splits start to tell a tale.
Smith Jr. is hitting 35.9% of his threes. That’s not exceptional, and it’s not a career high either. His improvement has come, much to the chagrin of modernists, in the midrange.
Although only the most radical Morey-ites would argue that nobody should shoot the midrange. In 2025, the prevailing wisdom is that the midrange jumper is a good shot for anyone who hits midrange jumpers.
Well, Smith Jr. is hitting a career-best 51.2% of his jump shots between 3-and-10 feet. For context, Kevin Durant, perhaps the least controversial midrange artist in the NBA, is hitting 53.7% from the same area. That’s a negligible difference.
What does it mean for the Rockets?
Rockets’ future hierarchy remains unclear
Any NBA team’s hierarchy is determined by who’s most effective from what spots, and whether they can consistently share those spots.
As of now, Sengun is atop the Rockets’ future hierarchy. The high and low posts are his. That doesn’t mean nobody else can score there, or even be featured there, but he has first dibs.
Otherwise, Reed Sheppard is likely to usurp Smith Jr. as a second option, but he operates from an entirely different part of the floor. With Sheppard stretching the floor, it should be easier for Smith Jr. and Sengun to operate together inside the paint.
So, the question becomes: What’s likely to be the better set in a few years? An Amen Thompson drive, or a Smith Jr. midrange?
The Rockets don’t have to rush to figure that out. Yet, it is fair to say Smith Jr.‘s unexpected development throws a wrench in the Rockets’ long-term visions. Could he slide into Durant’s current role in a modified (reduced, third option) capacity?
There is another way. Smith Jr. could blur the line between role and star player. He could focus on 3-and-D duties and occasionally create for himself, but at 35.9% from deep, he’s not necessarily satisfying the former role this year. Instead, he’s making unexpected progress in the latter area.
Maybe it’s just not the time to put him in a box yet.
