4 Increasingly bold predictions for the Houston Rockets in 2024-25

2. Houston Rockets' Jabari Smith Jr. breaks out

Jabari Smith Jr. is too often overlooked.

A dreadful 2022-23 rookie season may have something to do with that. Let's not mince words - Smith Jr. was unequivocally awful as a rookie. Is that why nobody seemed to notice his improvement as a sophomore?

As a rookie, Smith Jr.'s Box Plus/Minus (BPM) was -3.7. As a sophomore, he jumped to -0.4. If he made the same leap in 2024-25, he'd likely be garnering All-Star consideration.

Yet, growth is not typically linear. We shouldn't expect the same leap from Smith Jr. Luckily, he wouldn't need to make the same leap to have a breakout season in 2024-25.

We're expecting incremental improvement across the board. Smith Jr. doesn't need to emerge as a primary offensive option - he may never be one. If he can get a little bit better at just about everything, he'll be a high-end starter in 2024-25.

In that event, our first prediction could end up looking a bit too modest.