It took longer than he may have wanted, but Trayce Jackson-Davis finally heard his name called - or saw it flash up on the screen during a commercial break - in the 2023 NBA Draft a little before 1 a.m on Friday morning. Jackson-Davis was selected at No. 57, the second-to-last pick in the draft, to the Golden State Warriors, the winners of the 2022 NBA Championship.
The 2019 Indiana Mr. Basketball wasn't one of the 25 prospects invited to attend the draft in the green room at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn on Thursday. Instead, Jackson-Davis sat alongside friends, family and teammates at a special draft night party in downtown Indy.
Heading into the night, Jackson-Davis was projected to go somewhere in the early second round of Thursday's draft. Pick after pick was made in the second round and Jackson-Davis was still waiting. After watching his Indiana teammate Jalen Hood-Schifino hear his named called in the first round, Jackson-Davis began to grow a little impatient and took to Twitter to voice his thoughts.
The slide in the draft can most likely be attributed to Jackson-Davis' jump shot or lack thereof. Jackson-Davis took a grand total of three 3-point field goals throughout his entire college career and didn't make any of them. There was however some buzz around him making nine of his first 12 three-pointers in a shooting drill at the NBA Draft Combine back in mid-May.
Making 3-pointers in a drill, despite all the eyes on you at the NBA Draft Combine, is different than making them in a game. We heard talk all season long that Jackson-Davis worked on his jumper and made jump shots in practice, however, it never translated into games.
The Greenwood, Indiana native was passed on by his hometown team the Indiana Pacers twice late in the second round. Friday afternoon, Pacers General Manager Chad Buchanan hinted at why the Pacers passed on Jackson-Davis with both of their second round picks on 107.5 The Fan with Jake Query and Kevin Bowen.
In the end it was the Warriors who decided Jackson-Davis was a good fit with them with the 57th pick. The new Warriors General Manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. said after the conclusion of the draft that Jackson-Davis would be signed to an NBA contract and not the standard two-way deal for a late second round pick.
It's a great landing spot for Jackson-Davis. The Warriors are quite thin in the front court, with Kevon Looney being the only player currently under contract for next season that stands taller than 6-foot-7. It's also hard not to see the similarities between Looney and Jackson-Davis.
Neither one of them is a threat to space the floor, but both are great rollers and rebounders, as undersized centers. Jackson-Davis possesses more athleticism than Looney which will lead him to impact the game a little bit more defensively than Looney does.
Jackson-Davis will also have the opportunity to play alongside a handful of future hall of fame guards in Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and new addition Chris Paul.
While Jackson-Davis may have fallen a bit further in the draft than he wanted, it's not hard to see why playing alongside those guys and competing for an NBA Championship from day one of his NBA career is exciting.
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