Memphis Grizzlies: 5 reasons Jaren Jackson Jr. was a bad pick

5. Jackson’s shooting may not translate

Remember when Lonzo Ball came into the NBA with good shooting percentages in college and a highlight reel of accurate outside shots?

Remember when Lonzo Ball ended up shooting 36 percent from the field, 30.5 percent from 3-point range, and 45.1 percent from the free throw line during his rookie season in the league?

Everybody had their own diagnosis and remedy for Ball’s shooting woes. One particular theory that made sense was that Ball’s unorthodox mechanics and release — which he could get away with in high school and college — wasn’t working against quicker and smarter NBA defenders.

Jackson made 51.3 percent of his field goals, 39.6 percent of his 3s and 79.7 percent of his free throws in college. You can watch clips of Jackson lighting it up from long range and it might give you visions of Karl-Anthony Towns or Anthony Davis as a matchup nightmare in the pros.

But will Jackson’s shot translate to the next level?

Look again at Jackson’s shooting stroke, and you’ll see it’s low and kind of slow. More than a few scouting reports describe his jumper as a “knuckleball.”  Will he be able to get that shot off as comfortably against NBA defenders?

It’s similar to a quarterback coming into the NFL from college. Some of the funky and unique throwing motions you might see from a successful college QB usually get straightened out in the pros, where you need to get the ball out of there as quickly as possible with defenders coming faster and more furious than ever before.

Jackson, like Ball, may have to re-tool the shooting motion that he’s been comfortable with for years. How will that work out for him?

At least with Ball, his advocates will argue that his shooting issue isn’t a big deal because he wasn’t brought to the Los Angeles Lakers to be a shooter or scorer. But with Jackson, his shooting ability is a big part of his appeal to the Grizzlies. If he doesn’t convert in the pros like he did in college, what then?