Jabari Smith Jr. thinks he deserves a return to Rockets’ starting lineup

HOUSTON — The Rockets traded away two starters (Jalen Green and Dillon Brooks) in the deal bringing in superstar forward Kevin Durant, and they subsequently lost veteran point guard Fred VanVleet to an ACL tear in his right knee.

So, relative to when we last saw the Rockets in the 2025 NBA playoffs, Houston only has two players — Amen Thompson and Alperen Sengun — remaining from that lineup.

As a perennial All-Star and one of the greatest players in league history, Durant will obviously join them in that starting group.

The other two spots, however, are up for grabs. Candidates would seem to include guard Reed Sheppard; forwards Jabari Smith Jr., Tari Eason, and Dorian Finney-Smith; and center Steven Adams.

Smith is entering his fourth NBA season, and he started at power forward until breaking his hand midway through last season. Thompson then seized the vacant position and never relinquished it in compiling an All-Defensive First Team season.

In 2025-26, however, the Rockets have a window to potentially start Smith and Thompson together — and after signing a five-year contract extension this offseason, it seems Smith is hopeful of that being the case.

“Nobody has really mentioned it to me, but I’m expecting it,” Smith said at Monday’s media day to open training camp. “It’s something that I’ve been working on, something I feel like I deserve, and something that I’m going to show that I deserve.”

“But at the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter. You can see Ime (Udoka) really doesn’t care about it. He’s going to play who’s playing (well). It’s a small issue, a small question that everybody has. But at the end of the team, we’re a team, and we’re going to compete with the five that are on the floor. That’s what it is. But to answer your question, nobody has talked to me, that hasn’t even been mentioned yet.”

Drafted at No. 3 overall in the 2022 first round, Smith has averaged 13.0 points (43.2% FG, 34.0% on 3-pointers) and 7.5 rebounds in 31.1 minutes per game over his first NBA seasons. Relative to those first three years, the 22-year-old said Monday that he’s made several improvements during the 2025 offseason.

“I’m a lot more comfortable handling the ball and initiating,” Smith told reporters. “I’m a lot more aggressive driving to the rim, and being able to take bumps and change direction, and change my pace. That’s something I’ve been working on. Basically, I feel like you’re going to see a more decisive Jabari. More aggressive. Aggressiveness comes with confidence, and my confidence in myself has grown tremendously.”

“Everything I do, the way I talk, the way I walk, everything is going up. I feel like I’ve improved in every facet of my game. This was a really big summer for me, and I’m just ready to showcase it.”

While not confirming his starting lineup just yet, Udoka also noted Smith’s clear progress.

“I do think Jabari showed tremendous growth this offseason, and obviously he started the majority of his time here, before the injury,” Houston’s head coach said earlier this month.

“But we’ll take a look at everything. We feel we have incredible depth this year and a lot of versatility, so we could go a number of different ways, as far as that. I think some of that will be proven in training camp.”

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