What Makes Josh Jackson Different from other Prospects

When watching highlights and breakdowns of Josh Jackson, it’s hard to ignore that he plays the game differently than most players his age.

The moment the Celtics traded the first pick in the 2017 NBA draft to the Sixers for the third pick and a future first, Boston fans knew which player they were likely getting.

Danny Ainge said on a conference call that the player they select at #3 is likely the player that they would have taken at #1. This means that Ainge was not going to draft Markelle Fultz, and instead acquired another future lottery pick to get the player he wanted anyway.

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Before the rumors of the trade broke, the Celtics were reportedly interested in taking Kansas star Josh Jackson with the first pick. The prospect of getting Jackson is interesting because of his sky high potential, and NBA-ready defensive abilities.

While watching the entirety of Jackson’s freshmen year highlights, you understand the defensive praise and the potential as a go-to scorer thanks to his athletic ability and explosiveness. Jackson is known for his intangibles, and his will to win, and it’s very obvious when you watch the film. He’s different than every other top prospect in this sense. There’s something special about how he plays the game.

It is clear that Jackson knows where to be on the court, and what to do in reaction to his opponents. He is an underrated playmaker, and gets a lot of easy buckets off of cuts. These two attributes will help Jackson get comfortable on offense while his jump shot continues to get fixed.

On defense, he reads passing lanes and knows exactly when to pick at the ball against a ball handler of any size. Jackson has many of the qualities on both ends of the floor that Avery Bradley and Marcus Smart do. Combine those positive qualities with great size and elite athleticism, and you have a player that fans will love in Boston.

Brad Stevens can use Jackson and Jaylen Brown as two complimentary wings that can both defend multiple positions, and each have the potential to be go-to scorers. Since the NBA is going more toward small ball, the Celtics could eventually start both of them at small forward and power forward. That would cause match up nightmares if both even come close to their ceilings as players.

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If I was betting on it, I’d say that Fultz becomes the better player when it’s all said and done, but Jackson has a much higher ceiling, and plays the game in a different way than other top prospects do. The term “special” isn’t thrown around that often, but Jackson has the chance to be a special player that most teams don’t have the luxury of drafting after they make it to the conference finals.