Other than Devin Booker, do any of the young studs have a future?
"How many guys really complement Booker and can be part of the core? Jackson, I guess, but not really anyone else. Dragan Bender and Marquese Chriss are both question marks after shaky rookie years. I’m not even a big Jackson fan. His defense, size and athleticism will help, but his shooting motion is a mess. . . ."
As negative as these comments are, these aren’t even the worst of them…
Again, these statements sound like they came from a fired employee.
To start, the question marks surrounding Dragan Bender and Marquese Chriss is totally fair. Their rookie campaigns left much to be desired, and many fans (and possibly Suns brass) are fearful that neither player will really amount to much. Granted, some believe that it is coaching that is holding the players back, but either way, if the former lottery picks don’t each correct at least a few of the errors in their games from last season and improve upon them this season, there will be a lot of nervous people in the Valley of the Suns.
That being said, to call Josh Jackson out like that seems entirely unfounded and unfair.
Trying to come up with an answer of who can play alongside Devin Booker and reluctantly side with Josh Jackson, “I guess,” is entirely ridiculous. Granted they have only been preseason games, but in his first four outings in a Suns uni, Jackson has looked exactly as advertised, if not better.
Then to continue by complimenting three significant aspects of his game and skill set, only for the scout to say he is “not a big fan” of Jackson because of his shooting motion, is as short-sighted as an old man with glaucoma.
Is Josh Jackson the first player in the NBA to have a funky shot? Obviously not and Suns fans can turn to Shawn Marion who utilized the first three mentioned elements of his game, defense, size, and athleticism, and used those to cultivate a borderline Hall of Fame career, all while still scoring plenty with his own funky shot.
Again, through four preseason games, Jackson is averaging 14.75 points on 48.0% shooting from the field, including 50% from beyond the arc (6-12), and 77.7% from the charity stripe. At this point last season Suns fans were already beginning to become sufficiently worried about the games of Dragan Bender and Marquese Chriss.
Through four preseason games, I have no particular worries about Josh Jackson and his future with the Phoenix Suns.