Jabari Smith Jr has progressed brilliantly without taking a superstar leap

The Rockets have seen a ton of solid contributions across the board this season on the way to a 5-1 start, including offensive improvements and the usual great defense from Jabari Smith Jr. Although Smith isn't taking on enough volume yet to be approaching superstar status, he's clearly getting better in a lot of areas and allowing the Rockets to demand less load from their true stars.

Smith has taken small but important jumps

So far, Smith has been arguably the Rockets' most reliable shooter as he's hitting 43% of his threes on 5.8 attempts per game. He's benefitted a lot from the great ball movement and playmaking on the team, but also deserves a lot of credit for leveling up his shooting himself. Not only is he shooting a career-best percentage from outside, but he's also taking some of his toughest looks yet.

Smith has clearly grown as an overall scorer and creator. He's now capable of driving or hitting jumpers off the bounce to punish mismatches or weak defenders. Even against good defenders, he's willing to create his own shot if the team needs it. The Rockets may need to rely on him more if star center Alperen Sengun continues to miss time, since Sengun has been such an important hub so far.

The added comfort on drives, pull-ups and even post moves from Smith could be very valuable in the biggest games and the playoffs. During those times, opponents will scout the Rockets relentlessly and do all they can to take away Kevin Durant and Sengun as dominant offensive weapons. But Smith won't get the same level of defensive gameplanning, so he can turn the tide with his own scoring, particularly the self-created variety.

He's also retained his usual strengths

Another important aspect of Smith's impact on the Rockets are his typical strengths from previous seasons. His defense was previously his strongest trait, and it's continued to be solid. He's averaging 1.2 steals and 0.8 blocks per game this season, both solid marks. He's also consistently getting up solid contests when he doesn't record a steal or a block.

Rebounding was previously another big strength for Smith, but he's taken a slight step back this season with 5 boards per contest. In previous campaigns, that number climbed as high as 8. So there's a potential area for easy improvement, where Smith just has to get back to his usual level.

However, the slight step back in rebounding pales in comparison to his offensive improvements. The Rockets have plenty of other players to help crash the boards; they don't have a lot of shooters with growing self-creation juice. And that's where Smith can be most valuable, especially as a power forward.

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