Detroit Pistons: Re-grading Jerami Grant’s signing and their free agency
By Duncan Smith
Detroit Pistons free agency re-grade: Josh Jackson
Initial grade: C+
I think concerns about this deal were well-founded at the time. Josh Jackson grew up in Detroit and one worries about what may happen when a player with a troubled history like he has comes home, but he’s set those concerns to the side so far.
He reached rock bottom in his NBA career after being released by the Phoenix Suns and claimed by the Memphis Grizzlies and swiftly sent to the G League. Nothing reminds you of your professional basketball mortality than going from No. 4 pick in the 2017 NBA draft to traveling to road games on a bus in 2020, and Jackson seems to have figured it out.
Not only has his attitude and professional approach been different, but his play on the floor has been a more mature, intelligent brand as well. He’s focused on the things he does well, largely eschewed what he does not, and his physical brand of defense fits perfectly into what Troy Weaver and the Detroit Pistons want from him.
The Pistons and head coach Dwane Casey now seem to specialize in reclamation projects, and that’s exactly what Josh Jackson has been. While the book has yet to be fully written on Jackson’s career, the start of his tenure with the Pistons couldn’t have been better.