3. Josh Jackson, SF, Memphis Grizzlies
Players are often tied together for one reason or another, due to timing or circumstances linked in an indirect but still meaningful way. Larry Bird and Magic Johnson are the most incredible example of this, facing off in the NCAA Championship game before becoming the dueling faces of the NBA during the 1980s.
More recently draft classes tend to pit players together. Luka Doncic and Trae Young were effectively traded for each other in last year’s draft and their connection will be tracked for the rest of their careers. A year earlier two talented, skilled forwards went in the top five of the NBA Draft and were compared closely to each other.
Since then Jayson Tatum has enjoyed a strong start to his career for a successful team, while Josh Jackson has largely been a developmental failure for the disastrous Phoenix Suns.
While Jackson’s lack of a shot at Kansas was a concern, his passing vision and defensive upside were both supposed to give him an advantage on Tatum, who was thought to be an inefficient chucker by many. The decision between Tatum and Jackson was a real one for NBA teams picking in the lottery in 2017.
Now two years later Jackson’s career hangs by a thread. His playmaking never materialized and he looks somewhat lost on the basketball court, without the drive to take it to the other team or the instincts to be in the right place at the right time.
ESPN’s RPM ranked him 87th out of qualifying small forwards. In what was viewed as a middling sophomore campaign Jayson Tatum ranked 15th.
Jackson was effectively dead salary in a trade to the Memphis Grizzlies to clear space for the Suns to sign Ricky Rubio. The Grizzlies have the time to give Jackson another shot, and because of his position it behooves them to do so. A poor showing from Jackson in his second home could be the end of the line for the wing.