Jaren Jackson Jr. is one of the most successful Spartans in the NBA, especially during the Tom Izzo era. He has carved out a nice, lengthy career thus far, and he’s nowhere near finished.
Jackson, 26, has been in the NBA for eight years now, and he’s been an All-Star and a Defensive Player of the Year. He’s been one of the brightest young stars in the league, but his only issue is that he has a hard time staying healthy.
The biggest knock on Jackson Jr. has been his health, and he’s played more than 70 games in a single season just twice throughout his career.
There’s a chance he could crack 70 this season seeing as he’s only missed three games through two months, but he needs to show that he can at least consistently crack 65. He’s played 65-plus games in each of the past four seasons, and it looks like this should be No. 5.
Jackson entered the league in the same draft class as Miles Bridges, and both were selected in the NBA Lottery. The younger Spartan, however, went higher as the Memphis Grizzlies selected him at No. 4 overall. Since then, he’s been great.
Jaren Jackson Jr.’s numbers are slightly down
While he’s finally healthy and looking like he could take his career to the next level, most of his numbers are down from the past few seasons.
In fact, Jackson is averaging 18 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks this season which are all the lowest he’s had in years. His points are the lowest they’ve been since 2021-22, his rebounds are their lowest since 2019-20, and his blocks are a career-low, tied with his rookie season.
While he’s still one of the better young bigs in the league, his numbers shouldn’t all be down like they currently are. That’s because the Grizzlies need some help.
Jackson often finds himself trying to shoulder the load along with Ja Morant, when healthy, and that’s taking a lot out of the eight-year NBA vet. He’s playing the third-most minutes of his NBA career and he’s taking the third-most shots of his career. He’s not playing poorly, by any means, but he might be pressing just slightly.
I’m expecting a big second half of the season for the Spartans’ very own former unicorn.