Rockets' Jabari Smith Jr. is rightfully named as 2024-25 breakout candidate

The Houston Rockets have a "core seven". That's six guys in their early 20s who have already demonstrated potential at the NBA level, and incoming rookie Reed Sheppard.

As a result, they've got a lot of breakout candidates. Any one of these guys could look like a franchise cornerstone in 2024-25. That's what makes the Rockets such an exciting team to watch.

If you follow the team, you've likely got your preferred breakout candidate. Bleacher Report does. Grant Hughes just named Jabari Smith Jr. as one of the top young NBA players to watch for a breakout in 2024-25.

We couldn't agree more

Smith Jr. is poised for a massive season

We covered this before. We named three Rockets who were candidates to break out in 2024-25.

Secretly, Smith Jr. was our favorite. So, we'll rehash our own logic:

Smith Jr. averaged 12.8 points and 7.2 rebounds per game as a rookie, and 13.7 points and 8.1 rebounds per game in 2023-24.

His True Shooting % (TS%) jumped from 51.4% to 57.1%. His three-point percentage rose from 30.7% to 36.3%. Perhaps most significantly, his Box Plus/Minus (BPM) rose from -3.7 to -0.4.

Smith Jr. was bad as a rookie. We won't sugarcoat that. That's why his sophomore performance was so impressive. Smith Jr. was solid last season. He was a fringe starting-caliber player, and for a sophomore coming off of a dreadful rookie season, that speaks volumes.

If his progression is linear, he should be a fringe All-Star in 2024-25. We wouldn't assume linearity, but, we would assume that he's due for further improvement.

Will that come with increased responsibility?

Smith Jr. is a key puzzle piece for Rockets' future

Hughes was thoroughly cooking with this piece. He says Smith Jr. should settle into his "Chris Bosh on the Heat" role.

That feels like a perfect position for Smith Jr. The Rockets don't need him to handle the ball. If he can create offense for himself that would be great, but it isn't necessary.

The Rockets need Smith Jr. to guard every frontcourt position. They need him to protect the rim from the weakside. Offensively, they need him to hit open threes and space the floor.

We suspect he can do all of those things at a high level. As a rookie, Smith Jr. was hard to watch. As a sophomore. he started to resemble the player the Rockets envisioned when they picked him with the third overall pick. If he continues that progression, he'll be part of this team's core moving forward:

No matter how small it gets.