Trayce Jackson-Davis showing self-awareness and acceptance in rookie season
With 2:31 to go in overtime, the Boston Celtics’ Jaylen Brown took the ball from the top of the key and knifed through the open lane.
This was routine for Brown, a former top-three draft choice in his seventh season in the NBA and making over $60 million a year. It’s an easy left-hand jam without a rim protector in the paint. But not on former Indiana All-American Trayce Jackson-Davis’ watch. The rookie dashed from the right corner, made his way to the opposite side of the rim, and stuffed Brown.
On the previous possession, Jackson-Davis sat in the dunker’s spot and waited for a cutting Klay Thompson to dish him the ball for a jam.
The Golden State Warriors never looked back and beat the Celtics 132-126 last week. Jackson-Davis finished the game on the floor with future Hall of Famers Stephen Curry, Chris Paul and Thompson.
The two plays were huge for the Warriors against the team with the league’s best record. But for Jackson-Davis, it was a culmination of his skills and knowing his role – something he mastered in the cream and crimson.
Jackson-Davis, who was selected 57th overall in the 2023 NBA Draft, was fueled and frustrated on draft night.
“Y’all will regret it… I promise you,” he posted on X (formerly known as Twitter).
The 6-foot-9, 245-pound forward felt overlooked because he wanted a guaranteed contract. Jackson-Davis was offered two-way deals, but he and his agent, James Dunleavy, the brother of Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr, declined. Jackson-Davis envisioned himself being drafted in the late first round or early second round.
In his last 10 games with Golden State, Jackson-Davis has averaged 8.4 points, 6.7 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 0.9 blocks in 16.4 minutes a contest. He’s also shooting 71.1 percent from the field in those games. The Greenwood,native recorded back-to-back double-doubles off the bench before Christmas against the Celtics and Washington Wizards.
The blueprint had been set. If you’re a top 30 player out of high school, you go to college for a year and test the NBA draft waters. Jackson-Davis passed on this route, and even after former Indiana head coach Archie Miller was fired, he chose to stay in Bloomington under Mike Woodson. Getting Jackson-Davis to stay at Indiana remains one of Woodson’s most significant accomplishments at Indiana.
Most of the discourse surrounding Jackson-Davis at Indiana was that until he can shoot, all he’ll ever be is a good college player. But, in this last 10-game stretch with Golden State, he hasn’t attempted one 3-pointer. He hasn’t tried one all season.
In the two seasons he played under Woodson, Jackson-Davis improved with the ball in his hands as a passer and cutter and improved his defense. TJD’s ability to perfect the little things, like drop coverage in the pick-and-roll, made him a pro-ready prospect.
The former All-American’s self-awareness is admirable. He knows his strengths, his weaknesses, and what role he needs to be in for a team to succeed. His flexibility may be more impressive than his talent. Last season, Jackson-Davis was a back-to-the-basket scoring threat as the focal point of Indiana’s offense. In his senior year, he was second in the Big Ten in points (20.8) and rebounds (10.8) and first in blocks (2.9). Now, with the guard and wing talent in the NBA and especially on the Warriors, there’s no team where he’d be a number-one scoring option. So, instead, he’s embraced his role as an athlete off the bench who can run the floor, protect the rim, rebound at a high level and be a lob threat in the pick-and-roll.
For Indiana, he was an scorer who also holds school records for rebounds and blocks and needed the ball in his hands. For the Warriors, he’s an uber-athletic big off the bench with a high basketball IQ who plays away from the ball. He’s excelled in both roles. That’s adaptability.
“Those guys that play three, four years in college, they come with a level of maturity,” Curry said last week. “Just the strengths of what he’s been doing for us and the way he’s impacting the game, there was hope that that’s what it would look like.
“I understand how the league has changed a little bit, but for us, having that lob threat is a different look… Trayce gives you a little something different and it’s a nice change of speed. His confidence when he goes out there, he’s just playing hard. I love when young guys do that, it’s what they can control.”
Jackson-Davis controlling what he can control, like effort and confidence, is the narrative. You could argue that since he got to Indiana, that’s all he’s done. He’s worked on his game and done everything possible to invest in his basketball future. Even if that means staying in Bloomington after Miller, the coach who recruited him, was fired. Woodson was able to develop Jackson-Davis into an NBA-ready big man in his two years.
TJD’s patience in his journey and self-awareness are rare in college basketball, but it worked for him and could be for others.
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