While Everyone May Be Drunk With Wembymania, The Best Player In Vegas So Far Has Clearly Been Jabari Smith Jr

Ethan Miller. Getty Images.

Entering the Vegas Summer League, I think most people were rightfully excited to see the prized rookies of this year's class. Whether it was Wemby, Scoot, Brandon Miller, the Thompson twins, it's always exciting to see how the next wave of talent looks like against fringe NBA players. Sure the majority of the players you see during Summer League will struggle to even get a Two Way deal, but at the end of the day it's still fun to watch basketball in July and get drunk off potential.

But that's not the only thing that matters in Vegas. Part of what makes the 10+ days so fun is we also get to see what young guys look like they are poised for a big leap in Year 2 (and sometimes Year 3). It's something you can pretty much tell right away once you see it. The idea being that coming into your second summer, there should be a noticable jump to the point where it's adundantly clear that you are way too good to be playing Summer League basketball.

Think of what we saw last year with Josh Giddey in Vegas. The man was a monster and had to literally be shut down because he was too good

everything we saw suggested we were about to witness a breakout year, and guess what happened? Giddey had a breakout season in his Year 2. I always look at Summer League as a way to not form concrete opinions about guys, but at the very least you can tell just by watching who belongs and who doesn't. When there's a young player that enters his second summer and looks absolutely unstoppable, that's about as great a sign as you could ask for as a fan. 

So while most people focus on what's going on with Wemby out in Vegas, I believe the bigger story might be what's happening over in Houston. Make no mistake, the best player in Vegas so far this summer plays for the Rockets, and his name is Jabari Smith Jr

35.5/7.0/4.0 on 48/33% splits, as a Rockets fan this is the exact type of showing that you're hoping for. For starters, it's hard to not love his mentality heading into this summer because I don't think anyone would have blinked twice if he sat out after a strong rookie season

to hear that and then witness the back to back performances he's had to kick things off combined with guys like Tari Eason also looking awesome and Amen Thompson showing flashes before hurting his ankle and being shut down, there's definitely legit reason for excitement for Rockets fans. Time will tell how someone like Ime Udoka will handle such a young and inexperienced roster after the type of team he's coming from, but I don't think anyone is expecting the Rockets to contend or anything this season. 

For now, it's about development, and a big part of that development plan is the idea of Jabari Smith Jr becoming an absolute force. You combine his clear internal development with a better coach and a veteran point guard to help orchestrate things, and I see no reason why there can't be a big Year 2 leap for Smith Jr just like there was for Giddey last year. 

He's not going to get the national media love like Wemby, but I suggest if you have nothing to do and you see the Rockets are playing, go ahead and give it a watch. While you should always take Summer League performances with a gigantic grain of salt, I do think it's a little different when you're talking about Year 2 players, especially when it's pretty obvious they are making a big time leap.