While it has been a trend for the Phoenix Suns of late, Josh Jackson – the 4th overall pick in 2017 – has begun the season statistically behind many other top draft picks (and even low picks), after the hype of his game coming out of college was very high.
Although still extremely early in his career, many Suns fans have questioned whether or not Jackson is on the path to bust status, developing into no more than the kind of player one might expect to have been taken near the end of the lottery, rather than near the very top. Jackson hasn’t come into the league anywhere near the potential Rookie of the Year-type player that many had hoped, thus failing to meet the apparently absurdly high bar that had been set.
Among rookies this season, Jackson is 8th in steals, 13th in scoring, 13th in rebounds, 21st in assists, 26th in blocks, 49th in FG%, 50th in 3PT%, and 59th in FT%. Hardly a statline that gives anyone much hope.
Then several days ago Suns Head Coach Jay Triano sat down with Josh Jackson and told him something he probably never thought he’d ever hear: “I don’t have confidence in you.” Triano told Jackson that while he was doing many of the things the coaching staff has demanded of him, he just hasn’t been doing enough.
Triano soon decided to sit Jackson on January 2, against Atlanta. The Suns’ head coach told his rookie that he was to watch, listen, experience, and learn.
It appears that Jackson received the message. He, like Marquese Chriss before him, has responded, and the results are much to the Suns’, and the fan’s, liking.