Orlando Magic: Complete 2018 offseason grades

Trading for Justin Jackson

The third long-armed, athletic rookie on Orlando’s 2018-19 roster is former Maryland forward Justin Jackson. The Magic acquired Jackson in a draft-night trade with the Denver Nuggets, who took Jackson in the second round with the No. 43 overall pick.

Jackson stands 6’7″ and has a 7’3″ wingspan. He averaged 9.8 points and 8.1 rebounds per game as a sophomore last season, but he only played 11 games due to a shoulder injury.

While Jackson has the frame of the kind of player Orlando is clearly coveting, it’s not as clear that he has the game.

Projected as a small forward or a small-ball power forward, Jackson is an inconsistent shooter. He knocked down an impressive 43.8 percent of his 3-pointers as a freshman, but in his abbreviated sophomore campaign he only hit 25.0 percent from beyond the arc, as well as 36.6 percent from the field. He’s also not much of a ball-handler or playmaker offensively.

The positive is that Jackson projects as a solid defender and good rebounder for his position.

It’s admirable that the Magic appear to have a specific vision for their future and are taking players who fit that vision. At the same time, the team needed help in the backcourt and came away from the 2018 NBA Draft with three frontcourt players and zero point guards. Bamba and Frazier are hard to argue with as draft picks, but taking Jackson and failing to acquire a guard in a draft that had several solid ones available in the second round might have been a mistake.

Grade: C