Orlando Magic: 2018 NBA Draft grades

No. 43: Justin Jackson, Maryland (via Denver Nuggets)

Yeah, this one I didn’t really get at all.

A) It’s going to get confusing when the Magic play the Sacramento Kings and in garbage time they go Justin Jackson vs. Justin Jackson.

B) Didn’t you just pick the same player eight picks ago?

C) Why did the Magic give up a future second round pick for this guy?

D) He doesn’t bring any offensive spark to the team and had to end his season early because of a torn labrum in his shooting arm.

E) Do these thing usually go up to E?

F) Why didn’t Orlando at least try to pick a point guard here?

Sorry, I don’t mean to be so negative right off the bat, but this pick didn’t make any sense to me. After drafting Frazier,, a 6’6″, long armed, good defending wing with limited offensive game….they gave up a second round pick to draft Jackson, a 6’6″, long armed, good defending wing with an even more limited offensive game.

Let’s break this down. In the 11 games he played this year before his shoulder surgery (which he has a history of, by the way), Jackson averaged 9.8 points, 8.1 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game on 36 percent shooting. Obviously you can see the potential for a double-double on a nightly basis, but let’s not forget that, in those 11 games, he shot double-digit attempts five times.

He also only shot 25 percent from 3 this year and had another five games where he missed every 3 he took. The ironic thing is that his freshman year, he shot 43 percent and shot the same percentage from long range as well. Chalk that up to a bad shoulder in his sophomore season, but those numbers this year are just miserable.

Where he lacks in offensive prowess, however, Jackson makes up for it with his defense. Another super stretchy player with a 7’3″ wingspan, he can guard 2-5 on the floor and has a solid enough frame at 230 pounds to bang inside. He does project as an elite defender moving forward and can really help the Magic in that regard, since they were ranked 20th in defensive rating last year.

The one positive I can see in his offensive game is the fact that he shot 81 percent from the line last year and 70 percent the year before. This at least tells me that he has good shot mechanics and can repeat that. From the videos I’ve seen, it looks as though he has those mechanics down and hopefully that can translate into more consistent shooting.

Trying to find the positives in this pick was like trying to sifting through a bag of Laffy Taffys and still happening upon a yellow one. To have them pick a wing with limited offense, who just came off a shoulder surgery to his shooting arm and whose position is already filled on the team, was ridiculous. I

t honestly seems like they were trying to find their future G League wing with this pick. It was a repeat offense. Not quite as bad as the Minnesota Timberwolves picking back-to-back point guards in the 2009 NBA Draft ahead of Stephen Curry, but not much better.

Grade: D