Maybe Josh Jackson shouldn’t be a starter after all
By Tim Holstad
When Summer League began, Phoenix Suns fans were excited for plenty of reasons. One main reason was how Josh Jackson would perform against seemingly lesser talent. We expected domination from Josh, and instead… we got the first half of last year all over again.
Just looking at the stats alone, there’s nothing that really jumps off the page. Well, nothing good that is. In 24 minutes per game, Jackson is averaging 10.3p, 2.3r, 1.3a, 1.3s, and 0.7b. The real standout statistic is his field goal percentage. Jackson has attempted 41 shots in three games and only made 10 of them. That translates to 24% from the field, which is about as awful as you can imagine for a professional basketball player.
It’s not just the numbers themselves though, but the manner in which Josh played that is troubling. He looked much more like he did at the beginning of his rookie year than the second half of the season when he seemed to put it together.
During summer league so far Josh has been erratic, careless with the ball, and flat-out bad on offense. His outside shot hasn’t really progressed at all from where it was last year, and he has resorted to taking wild shots in the paint that had very little chance of going in.
JJ’s defense still is the gem of his game at this point, and he’s shown it with blocks like this one this summer. His putrid offensive showing though has people beginning to question whether he’s ready to be the full-time starter going forward for the Phoenix Suns.
T.J. Warren, while full of faults himself, can do one thing well for sure, and that’s put the ball in the basket. Warren was nearly a 20ppg scorer last season as the second option for Phoenix, and that’s without a consistent 3-point shot in his repertoire. What T.J. really lacks is defensive consistency and the ability to stretch the floor. With Devin Booker also a below-average defender, it seems logical to put Josh Jackson in the starting lineup with Book to make up for his defensive short-comings.
However, if Josh continues to play like this, throwing up poor shots and making bad decisions with the ball, T.J. Warren could very easily beat him out in camp for the starting small forward spot.
To this point, most people had predicted a starting lineup of Knight, Booker, Jackson, Trevor Ariza, and Deandre Ayton. Unless Josh plays much better in camp and preseason, he might play himself out of that starting spot and once again come off the bench to start the year.
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It’s certainly far too early to know one way or the other, and JJ could play much better in preseason and shut the door on any doubts of his progression. With that being said, it’s definitely a story to keep an eye on heading into camp. For the Suns’ sake, I hope Josh shows more patience and progression once camp opens up.