After an exciting season with the North Carolina Tar Heels ended with an NCAA championship trophy, junior forward Justin Jackson will begin the next chapter of his basketball career with the Kings. Sacramento drafted Jackson, a volume perimeter scorer, No. 15 in Thursday’s NBA draft.
Justin Jackson is a late bloomer, and that’s just fine for the Kings
Justin Jackson hit 105 three-pointers last season, more than any other projected first-rounder.
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The gifted shooter averaged 18.3 points on 37 percent three-point shooting to lead the Tar Heels to a championship in a win over Gonzaga. Jackson’s best game of the season came in a losing effort against Kentucky, when he scored 36 points on 59 percent shooting in 38 minutes. Unfortunately, Malik Monk’s 49-point game powered the Wildcats’ a three-point victory.
Why should Kings fans be excited about Jackson?
He has a quick trigger
Jackson made more threes last season than any other projected first-rounder. He made 105 triples through the regular season and NCAA tournament, edging out Kentucky’s Malik Monk, who made 104.
Jackson has one of the best release points in the draft, getting the ball up high over his head and releasing at the drop of a dime. His shooting mechanics don’t seem to need much work, and his three-point range already extends to NBA territory.
He doesn’t need the ball to score
Jackson’s a lot like Monk in that neither need the ball in their hands to be effective. The ex-Tar Heel ran off screen after screen in Roy Williams’ system at UNC. As a result, Jackson got clean looks at a shot time and time again.
He’s also got a nifty floater he uses when attacking the paint, converting those at 41 percent on 75 attempts, according to DraftExpress’ profile that cited Synergy Sports.
He has the work ethic.
Jackson wasn’t always a knockdown shooter. After all, he shot 30 percent from three as a sophomore and 29 percent from downtown as a freshman. But in order for the Tar Heels to be successful this season, he had to become the go-to guy.
Part of that transition including putting time into the gym and hammering down his three-point shot, an area that hurt his draft standing in 2016. Jackson returned a lights-out perimeter shooter, scorching the nets at a 37 percent clip from downtown.
Jackson’s light. At 6’8, he weighs just 209 pounds. To find sustained success at the next level, the Tar Heels product will need to bulk up. Otherwise, he could find himself bullied on defense and lacking the strength needed to take his offensive game to new heights.
Jackson’s also already 22 years old. In a draft class featuring more one-and-done players than ever before, the UNC product is an outlier for spending three years in college.
Tell me something else about Jackson
He may or may not be good at Call of Duty:
He may or may not be a sneakerhead:
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