Former Auburn basketball star Jabari Smith to sign $122M deal with Houston Rockets
AUBURN — Former Auburn basketball standout Jabari Smith Jr. has a new deal with the Houston Rockets, according to a report from ESPN's Shams Charania, in the form of a five-year, fully guaranteed $122 million rookie contract extension.
Selected by Houston with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, Smith's new contract should have him with the franchise through the 2030-31 campaign.
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He remains part of a core that includes Fred VanVleet and Steven Adams. They'll be joined by newly acquired Kevin Durant for the 2025-26 season, fresh off earning the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference playoffs last year.
Smith averaged averaged 12.2 points and 7.0 rebounds last season, despite breaking his left hand in January. Through three seasons, Smith has averaged 13.0 points and 7.5 rebounds in the NBA. According to Charania's report, Smith is the only player from his draft class who has recorded 2,500 points and 1,500 rebounds so far in their NBA careers.
At Auburn, Smith averaged 16.9 points and 7.4 rebounds in his lone season with the program. Alongside fellow 2022 draft pick Walker Kessler, Smith helped Auburn to a 28-6 campaign, as well as a top-10 end-of-season ranking, despite the Tigers' round of 32 exit in that year's NCAA Tournament.
Adam Cole is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at acole@gannett.com or on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, @colereporter. To support Adam's work, please subscribe to the Montgomery Advertiser.
This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Auburn basketball great Jabari Smith gets new deal with Houston Rockets
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