Josh Jackson
I hope I’m wrong.
I truly do.
I’d much rather see Josh Jackson fail in Phoenix than succeed elsewhere, and I really want him to succeed.
But I believe that the expectation that he will sooner rather than later find his niche in the NBA is enough to make him the trade piece that Phoenix will need to improve point guard or power forward, and he will be the centerpiece of the players traded away to make it happen.
If Jackson is put on a team that is growing similar to how the Suns are now, and given a greater role in the offense right away, new coaching and a new environment might awaken the offensive beast we all want to see in him. If he is able to step right in as a starter, the stats that we want to see from him now will begin to appear and bloom then as well.
His defense will come with coaching and time, but even that is nothing to write home about at this time either (0.9 steals and 0.6 blocks per game for a player who was supposed to be a defensive savant is nothing special).
Fortunately I believe that he still holds value and will be a valuable enough piece that if Phoenix needs to make a trade to add talent, he will be a player franchise’s will accept.
At the moment though, I do not see him as a part of the future in Phoenix, and that both Oubre and Bridges having already shown qualities that Jackson lacks, allows for a move to come, sooner, rather than later.