James Harden Free-Agency Pitch Made by Rockets' Jabari Smith Jr.: 'Come Back Home'

Houston Rockets forward Jabari Smith Jr. wants the chance to play with James Harden.

"That'd be great," he told Dionysis Aravantinos of HoopsHype when asked about the rumors linking Harden and the Rockets ahead of the offseason. "The team would want a Hall of Famer. It's promising, but we're not just banking on that. We're still focused on us and how we can improve as a team."

As for his sales pitch, Smith said he'd tell Harden to "come back home. He did so much for that city; there's still so much love for him in Houston. It would definitely feel like home for him if he came back."

Smith, 20, averaged 12.8 points and 7.2 rebounds as a rookie this past season after being the No. 3 overall pick in the 2022 NBA draft, shooting 40.8 percent from the field and 30.7 percent from three in 79 games.

It wasn't a poor opening campaign by any stretch of the imagination—Smith was a second-team All-Rookie selection—but it perhaps wasn't the type of immediate impact he or the Rockets might have hoped for, with Smith himself describing his opening salvo as "inconsistent."

"It was a good experience overall," he added of his rookie year. "I felt like I learned a lot, and I'm heading to my second year with confidence in how I finished the year. I'm ready for next season. But I would say it was OK. Definitely under my standards."

For most teams in a rebuilding stage, a player like Smith would be given the time and space to develop slowly around other players at a similar stage in their career. In Houston, that has been beside players like Jalen Green and Alperen Şengün, among others.

But if Houston uses its significant cap space to lure veterans like Harden to Houston this summer—and if the Rockets don't use those aforementioned young players as trade bait to bring aboard additional veteran stars—the Rockets are going to have an interesting blend of proven players chasing a title and young players who need the room to develop.

That has the chance to create two clashing forces both inside the locker room and on the court, though Smith seemed excited about the possibility.

"That's a great four you just said right there," he told Aravantinos when asked how a lineup that included himself, Harden, Green and Şengün might coexist. "I feel like the sky's the limit with a lineup like that. The challenge is there, but it'd be on us to put it all together."