Justin Jackson is a low-risk, high-reward signing for the Celtics

With a disassembled roster due to the NBA’s health and safety protocols, the Boston Celtics are down six players. As a result, the Celtics signed forward Justin Jackson to a 10-day contract using the hardship exception.

It’s worth mentioning that the hardship exception is a temporary roster spot that is approved by the league for a team that has at least four players who are sick or injured for longer than two weeks. It also allows a team to exceed the 15-man roster limit in the hopes of keeping the competition level equal for all teams.

The Boston Celtics signed forward Justin Jackson to a 10-day contract

The Boston Celtics signed 2017 first-round pick Justin Jackson to a 10-day contract amid the minor COVID outbreak running through the team. This is a complete low-risk, high-reward situation for the Celtics.

The C’s signed Jackson from the Texas Legends of the G-League. In 10 games, Jackson averaged 22.7 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 2.9 assists per game, with shooting splits of 47-42-79 this season.

Although Jackson was signed out of the G League, he’s no stranger to the NBA. In fact, he is a former first-round pick from the same 2017 draft class as Celtics star Jayson Tatum. Jackson was drafted 15th overall by the Portland Trailblazers but was then traded the same night to the Sacramento Kings.

During his four-year career, Jackson has been with the Kings, Dallas Mavericks, and Oklahoma City Thunder, before landing a true two-way contract from the Milwaukee Bucks last season. He was considered part of the championship team, even though he didn’t play in the playoffs.

Although Jackson has bounced around the league to start his career, he has played a decent amount of games throughout his time in the NBA. He’s played in 248 games, averaging 6.6 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 1.1 assists per game.

Jackson’s best season was in 2018-19 when he was part of the Kings and Mavericks, he finished the season averaging 8.2 points per game while shooting 48 percent from the field.

Justin Jackson has a chance to make a real impact on the Boston Celtics

Just five years ago, Jackson was the ACC Player of the Year as he led his North Carolina Tarheels to an NCAA Championship. It’s not hard to believe that he just needs to be on a team for more than a season to really acclimate himself and become a true contributor.

I was sitting courtside on Saturday night when the Celtics defeated the New York Knicks 114-107. However, during the pregame shoot-around and warmups, I noticed Jackson appeared to be one of the tallest guys the Celtics had on the court.

He stands 6-8 (same as Tatum) and weighs 220 lbs at the wing position – a position in which the Celtics could use an additional piece to their puzzle.

One 10-day contract might be all Jackson needs to show the Celtics that he can be an asset to the team. I mean, he just put his name back on the map by averaging over 22 points per game in 10 games in the G League this season.

It’s not outrageous to think that the Celtics may find a way to keep Jackson around while their team is recovering from a minor COVID outbreak.

In all, it’s much too early to determine if Jackson should be here long-term. However, it’s a low-risk, high-reward situation. The upside of Jackson could be something that President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens might not be willing to miss out on.