GG Jackson showed off all the potential that just got him a four-year contract in the Memphis Grizzlies' 121-113 win over the Houston Rockets on Wednesday night.
The youngest player in the NBA dropped 20 points, grabbed nine boards, blocked three shots and drained three triples to help the decimated Grizzlies end a nine-game losing streak, leading his tram in all four categories. Jackson put up those numbers efficiently, too, going 8-of-15 from the field and missing just two three-point attempts while letting the game come to him offensively and playing sound team defense on the other end.
His big night comes in wake of Jackson being suspended for an unspecified violation of team rules, causing him to miss Monday's loss to the New Orleans Pelicans. After the win over Houston, Jackson invoked his age while insisting this latest mishap is just another step in his maturation process.
“I don't want to use my age as an excuse but it's a learning lesson and gotta learn from it,” he said, per Grizzly Bear Blues.
GG Jackson could be huge part of Grizzlies' future
Memphis has been searching for an impact two-way forward for years.
The front office took a flier on former top-10 pick Justise Winslow in 2020-21, traded up to take Ziaire Williams tenth overall in the following draft, then selected Jake LaRavia and David Roddy at Nos. 19 and 23 a year later. Last summer, after deciding Dillon Brooks had worn out his welcome in Grind City, the Grizzlies tried to fill their gaping hole on the wing with Marcus Smart.
Despite an injury-marred debut campaign in Memphis, all signs point to Smart remaining an integral part of this team's core alongside Ja Morant, Jaren Jackson Jr. and Desmond Bane. But there's major roster churn around them, both already in process and awaiting come the offseason.
Frontcourt pillars Steven Adams and Xavier Tillman are gone. The same goes for Roddy. The Grizzlies have a team option on Luke Kennard for next season and Williams will become eligible for an extension at the conclusion of 2023-24 he's unlikely to get. There's no guarantee Brandon Clarke returns in 2024-25 as the same player he was before tearing his Achilles last spring.
Memphis is looking for contributors going forward, basically, and Jackson tapping more and more frequently into the tools that made him a true blue-chip prospect coming out of high school suggest he might be another rotational answer next to Vince Williams Jr.
At 6'9 with a seven-foot wingspan, he boasts the size and athletic profile the Grizzlies have always wanted at forward. Jackson is hitting 40.3% of his catch-and-shoot triples on a diet that includes a lot of extra deep and quick-hitting looks, more evidence of his emergence as a legitimate weapon from behind the arc. He's both explosive and crafty as a finisher, with a clear knack for cutting and nascent passing skills.
Odds are against Jackson ever becoming a high-usage, on-ball force. But a multi-level finisher who can switch across at least three positions defensively while making disruptive plays in help is all Memphis needs next to Morant and Bane. Jackson is already pretty comfortable attacking close-outs with two-to-three dribbles and making basic pick-and-roll reads. He'll get better with the ball in his hands even if that's never the focal point of his game.
Just because Jackson has opened eyes as a rookie following his utterly disappointing single-season stay at South Carolina doesn't assure more steady growth to come. What could get in his way other than lagging skill development? The same off-court pitfalls that dogged him in college and resulted in his one-game ban just three days after Jackson inked his new long-term contract.
Jackson recently admitted to being fined by the team four separate times already this season, not counting his suspension. Pre-draft intel questioning his maturity weren't about the content of his character, but how Jackson would react to the realities of professional basketball.
Jaren Jackson, for his part, isn't worried. He's keeping the rookie fully aware of the future he risks losing.
“He's fine,” Jaren Jackson said of GG Jackson amid the latter's suspension, per Damichael Cole of the Memphis Commercial Appeal. “I told him he's going to be one of the best players in the league, so act like it.”
There's still a long way to go, but at least Jackson played like it at times against the Rockets, an encouraging response to his most recent youthful mistake.
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