Josh Jackson is back! I was beginning to wonder if the ‘Zlies would ever bother to recall him from the G-League. If the pre-season projections for Memphis would more accurate (remember, they were supposed to be one of the worst teams in the league), yeah, there’d be no reason not to run Jackson out there and have him chuck in endless losses. But instead, the ‘Zlies are in the playoff picture, and there’s not really any time to spare on a troubled reclamation project who doesn’t make teams better despite his sometimes impressive raw statistical output.
Speaking of which, if Memphis is just going to marginalize Bruno Caboclo again (yes, I know he’s injured, that doesn’t mean they won’t continue marginalizing him when he comes back), I’ll happily take him on the Bucks in exchange for one (1) Thon Maker. I will not, however, accept Jackson in place of Caboclo. I have my limits.
Jackson had some weird stuff happen to him during the offseason, stuff that I won’t get into here since I don’t think all of it has been confirmed and I don’t want to spread baseless rumors (actually yes I do, so here’s one: Jackson cut off his hair because he’s part of a cult that attempts to rob you of your individuality by enforcing a generic and uniform personal appearance and no, it’s not the military). That weird stuff is not the reason he’s been G-leaguing it up this season; the ‘Zlies, when they traded for him, basically said straight up that he wasn’t going to be on the normal roster and to just get used to it.
A bit of a fall from grace for a guy who was the 4th overall pick just a few drafts ago, right? He’s looking like a bust at this point, but perhaps this 13-point performance will put him back on the road to solid role-playerdom. I’m not optimistic about that, unless he’s learned to shoot while dominating scrubs in the minor league, but it could happen. He’s talented, there’s no doubt about that. And look at that frame! That is an NBA-quality frame right there.