Ranking the 6 worst Suns starters of the Devin Booker era
By Luke Duffy
5. Josh Jackson
Josh Jackson may feel aggrieved to find himself here, and not in the position of Chriss on this list. After all, in his rookie season in 2017-18 he started 35-of-77 games for the organization, and averaged a respectable 13.1 points and 4.6 rebounds.
Yet after one more full season with the Suns it was all over for him in the valley, and it is not hard to see why. The word “tweener” is used less and less these days, but Jackson fell into this category. Not big enough to guard lumbering forwards, but not quick enough to follow lightning quick guards either.
https://twitter.com/Cody_Cunningham/status/878041039235194881
Jackson wasn’t great from beyond the arc (29.4 percent across two seasons with the team), and shot 65 percent from the free-throw line as well. This was just a case of a player who on some nights could exist offensively and be mostly hidden on the defensive end, but who didn’t do any one thing particularly well.
Perhaps worst of all, Jackson didn’t look like he wanted to be out there. Like ever. Which was puzzling and a great shame for the Suns, who only went and used the fourth overall pick to take him ahead of De’Aaron Fox (fifth), Jonathan Isaac (sixth) and Lauri Markkanen (seventh). That perspective makes Jackson’s time with the team even worse.
Two seasons with the team, and at a time when they really needed to start putting good young players around Booker, tells its own story. Still only 26-years-old, Jackson last played for the Stockton Kings in the NBA’s G League. Exactly.