Phoenix Suns second-year forward Josh Jackson has his sights set in one of the NBA's most notorious honors, the Most Improved Player award. This award is given to the one player that made the biggest leap from one season to another.
“Most Improved Player in the League, I really want to win that award,” Jackson said in an Under Armour commercial advertisement. “It would help me feel the work I put in last season and this summer paid off.”
Jackson came out as one of the best-lauded prospects of the 2017 NBA Draft, selected with the fourth pick by the Suns. His rookie season was a rollercoaster ride, losing his head coach only three games into the season and spending the early part of the 2017-18 campaign playing out of position, sometimes even at power forward, despite a somewhat frail 200-pound frame.
A natural shooting guard that has transitioned to the small forward position due to his defensive skills and rebounding ability, Jackson started to show signs of taking that leap during the latter part of the season, forced to be more offensively involved with Devin Booker out of action due to a hand injury.
Jackson's 3-point game came along late in the season, allowing him to put a string of five 20-point games in the span of his last six during his rookie season, sitting out the last two contests.
The Kansas product saw heavy minutes in his last 12 games of the season, allowing the Suns to see what he could do when given ample opportunity to be involved. Among them, a career-high 36-point barrage coming off the bench against the hampered Golden State Warriors.
Now expected to play as a full-time small forward, the avenues are there for Josh Jackson to take that jump and take over as Victor Oladipo's successor as the Most Improved Player of the 2018-19 season.