Josh Jackson exists in that hazy, hard-to-define place that remains a scientific enigma, but is also known to be present on every team in the NBA: the border between being part of the YOUNG CORE and not being part of the YOUNG CORE. Like every other player stuck in this unpleasant limbo, Josh Jackson can look like a core piece of the team one game and then look like an expendable bundle of meat, tendons, and uselessness the next game.
This game is Jackson’s attempt to drag himself out of that unknowable realm and into the YOUNG CORE part of the roster. At this point, I would say that he’s not fully out of there, but at least his head is sticking out so people can see that he’s trying his best to escape. Nobody will come to his aid, of course; he has to get out of the CORE/NON-CORE purgatory by himself. It will take a monumental force of effort for Jackson to do this, but he’s shown that it can be done as long as shots are falling and no defense is being played by anybody at all.
If Jackson regresses next game (by, say, scoring in the single-digits or committing six turnovers, or both), then he will slip back into that vile, madness-inducing place that he’s tried so hard to extricate himself from. If he ends the season there, then he faces an offseason of uncertainty as the Suns’ brass tries to figure out if he’s worth trading or not. If he’s not traded, then he faces his third year in the league, where his minutes, and thus his production, are likely to be as inconsistent as they were this year. And every Suns fan will still have this question on their minds:
Is Josh Jackson part of the YOUNG CORE? Or he is not part of the YOUNG CORE?