Jabari Smith Jr. has been commonly compared to Kevin Durant since bursting onto nationwide basketball scene as a freshman at Auburn in 2021-22. Now in his second year with the Houston Rockets, Smith doesn't quite project as the all-court scoring force that's made Durant one of the greatest players in NBA history. Still, his smooth shooting stroke and defensive versatility at 6'10 certainly evokes some aspects of the Phoenix Suns superstar, who Smith recently called a “robot” for his metronomic approach to the game.

Smith worked out with Durant this summer in Los Angeles, coming away supremely impressed by the future Hall-of-Famer's attention to detail and overall work ethic.

“I came out here in LA playing in the Rico Hines runs. Before a pickup, he was working out and I just jumped in with him and his trainer,” Smith said of Durant, per Mark Medina of Sports Keeda. “It was pretty good. He pays a lot of attention to detail. It was good for me to see with just how hard you got to work, how consistent you got to be and how important it is to focus on the little things.”

The 20-year-old has since tried to model his approach after Durant's machine-like dedication.

“Shooting the same shot every time. If you see him shoot, every shot is the same,” Smith said. “If you see how precise all of his movements are, he’s like a robot. Everything looks the same. So, I tried to mimic that.”

Jabari Smith Jr.'s sophomore season with Rockets

Rockets forward Jabari Smith Jr. had much to say about Ime Udoka and the team's hot start

Houston has been most pleasant surprise in the season's early going under first-year head coach Ime Udoka, winning six straight games before falling to the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday after James Harden completed a go-ahead four-point play in the final seconds of the fourth quarter. The Rockets enter Sunday's tilt with the Los Angeles Lakers at 6-4, sporting the league's fourth-best defensive rating.

Smith has definitely played a role in Houston emerging as one of basketball's best defensive outfits. He held up well against Kawhi Leonard in isolation on Friday, the latest example of Udoka trusting him to check big star forwards—even as the game hangs in the balance. While Smith's overall development has been solid, it's not the driving force behind the Rockets finally rising from the cellar of the standings.

He's averaging 12.0 points and 7.0 rebounds per game, numbers right in line with those from his rookie season. Smith has significantly upped his efficiency, though, shooting 56.1% on twos and 35.4% from beyond the arc en route to a 54.8 effective field goal percentage that sits just above league average. His ability to space the floor and post-up size mismatches at power forward has loomed especially large to Houston's offense as Alperen Sengun cements himself as a dynamic all-court playmaker and Fred VanVleet pulls reins of his team's deliberate halfcourt attack.

Smith is still a long way from reaching his ceiling. Even if he's ultimately nothing more than a capable multi-positional defender who reliably knocks down open shots and can play small-ball five in a pinch, Smith would still be a pivotal foundational building block for Houston, and a snug two-way fit next to Sengun. Don't outright dismiss the possibility of him becoming a star, though. The more he takes a page from Durant's robotic approach to getting better, the likelier Smith is to hit that peak.