Valley of the Suns
Fansided

One stat for every Sun to average a career-high in 2017-18

By Adam Maynes

TARRYTOWN, NY - AUGUST 11: Josh Jackson #20 of the Phoenix Suns poses for a portrait during the 2017 NBA rookie photo shoot on August 11, 2017 at the Madison Square Garden Training Facility in Tarrytown, New York. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images)
TARRYTOWN, NY - AUGUST 11: Josh Jackson #20 of the Phoenix Suns poses for a portrait during the 2017 NBA rookie photo shoot on August 11, 2017 at the Madison Square Garden Training Facility in Tarrytown, New York. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
12 of 17
Next

Josh Jackson

TARRYTOWN, NY – AUGUST 11: Josh Jackson #20 of the Phoenix Suns poses for a photo during the 2017 NBA Rookie Shoot on August 11, 2017 at the Madison Square Garden Training Center in Tarrytown, New York. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Jennifer Pottheiser/NBAE via Getty Images)
TARRYTOWN, NY – AUGUST 11: Josh Jackson #20 of the Phoenix Suns poses for a photo during the 2017 NBA Rookie Shoot on August 11, 2017 at the Madison Square Garden Training Center in Tarrytown, New York. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Jennifer Pottheiser/NBAE via Getty Images) /

Steals per game

Obviously as a rookie every stat he records will be a career-high. So for Jackson, let’s look at a stat that could be most impressive: steals.

Offensively Jackson will not be leaned on much, if at all, this season. There are simply too many scorers ahead of him to ever need putting the ball in the basket his primary concern. Even rebounding will be a stat that he will not necessarily need to excel in right away because of Tyson Chandler, Alan Williams, T.J. Warren, Marquese Chriss, and presumably Alex Len all with expectations to grab boards without hesitation. Jackson will be able to layoff the block and stay ready for a fastbreak pass, rather than start one.

All that being said, if Josh Jackson can be a lockdown defender with any consistency (let’s not get ahead of ourselves and say he’s Draymond Green or Kawhi Leonard just yet), then we should safely expect that he grabs at least one steal a game his rookie season. If he can average closer to 1.5 in 2017-18, that will be a career-high worth celebrating, and one that we could expect to be broken come 2018-19.

Home/Suns News