The Return of Josh Jackson
He's back. Will it be for good this time?
Photo by Nick Krug, LJ World
Josh Jackson—the best one-and-done player Kansas ever had—is back in the NBA after almost half of a season in the G League with the Grizzlies’ affiliate.
Even though KU has been more prolific in its production of NBA stars in recent years, no former Jayhawk made the impact that Jackson made in his lone season. He was the best player on a 31-5 team that featured a future Wooden Award winner (Frank Mason). After KU’s still-painful-to-think about loss to Oregon in KC during the Elite Eight, Jackson turned pro and got drafted fourth, in front of players like De’Aaron Fox and Donovan Mitchell.
Jackson was out of the NBA within two years.
How did we get here?
Jackson has appeared in 26 games for the Hustle this season and has averaged 20.3 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.5 blocks.
While a good rule of thumb professionally is “never be drafted by the Phoenix Suns,” a lot of this is on Jackson. KU fans surely remember the car-kicking incident—unfortunately, Jackson’s penchant for bad behavior off the court followed him into the NBA. He got arrested at Rolling Loud for trying to break into the VIP area last year, and in the fall he got suspended a game for missing a team meeting in the G League. The fact that these incidents happened after he had fallen out of favor with the Suns is concerning. When teams aren’t exercising their rookie options on you—these deals are the highest value proposition that the NBA has—that is a bad sign.
In a recent interview with The Undefeated’s Marc Spears, Jackson appeared to be making steps toward accountability, and approached his role in the minor leagues with an open mind (emphasis mine):
“The last time I had fun like this was maybe AAU,” Jackson told The Undefeated during the G-League Showcase. “Don’t feel bad for me. It’s an opportunity. I am just thankful I get to play basketball.”
On the court, the narrative of Jackson’s struggle is a little hard to parse if you weren’t watching him flail toward the rim in Phoenix. His career cumulatives look OK. He played a lot. He’s shot the ball like crap, but he was also drafted into a rough situation in Phoenix, a vision-less franchise that didn’t know how to develop Jackson and didn’t really try. In a league where the talent margins are thinner than ever, where you get drafted can set the tone for your entire career. Jackson is 22, and luckily a development-minded franchise thought it was worth a spin, even though Jackson was pretty much a toss-in in a cash-based trade.
In college, Jackson played out of the position on paper, running the 4 in Bill Self’s offense instead of the more perimeter-minded role that made him a high school star. At Kansas, that spot suited him; a natural playmaker who could switch around on defense at the Division I level, his two-way versatility became essential. (Indeed, KU was doomed when he picked up a second cheap foul in the Oregon game, effectively precluding him from getting into any type of rhythm). He was basically Draymond Green, scaled down to a college offense. Despite a reputation as a bit of a psycho, he played under control and read the floor. It was pretty awesome.
The NBA is a different deal. Slotted as a SG or SF, Jackson has only been an average scorer, and he couldn’t stop anyone in Phoenix. Jackson ranked 495th in Real +/- in his rookie season, and his DEFRTG is in the 110s for his career. Going over his G League stats, some more encouraging patterns emerge: namely, a highly improved touch from three (38%) and nightly sheet-stuffing. He’s rebounding and making plays like he did in college.
These are the things he’ll need to show in Memphis, an environment that could use more play-making (but not necessarily scoring) in their second unit if they’re going to make the playoffs. Luckily, Memphis is in the development business as they prepare to build around Ja Morant, and nailing down a rotation spot would be a promising start to a fully rendered rehab project. (It should be noted that Jackson might not have been called up without the injury to Grayson Allen, who is out indefinitely).
On Wednesday night at MSG—aka Fight Night—a friend and I StubHub’d some lower bowl seats to see Ja Morant, a playmaking wunderkind whose feel-and-floaters game would hopefully serve as a temporary salve to what’s been a very sad week for basketball. The Knicks were getting pummeled, so Jackson got a few rotations. He looked to be pressing a little bit, but played hard, and used his length on defense to make things difficult for (an admittedly bumbling) Knicks frontcourt.
He might not see the floor most nights, especially if the Grizz are in competitive games and De’Anthony Melton is back. A return to Memphis seems likely. After an inauspicious start to his NBA career, the former #1 prospect in the country is back at the highest level. Let’s start there.
As a bonus, here’s a shot of Jackson shooting the technical free throws that the Grizzlies were awarded after Marcus Morris’ ejection for “escalation.” (Morris would go on to say some abhorrent stuff after the game.)
A very measured “Rock Chalk” to you and yours.