Jaren Jackson Jr is Having a MONSTER Season in Memphis
Everyone moves on different schedules.
Some players rocket to the NBA, fully formed as megastars. Some become valued role players. And some never make it. In his seventh season with the Memphis Grizzlies, Jaren Jackson Jr. has leveled up.
Drafted fourth overall by the Grizzlies in 2018, Jackson Jr. has patiently and confidently expanded his game. As the team added Ja Morant and Desmond Bane around Jackson Jr., the Grizzlies have become a perennial top-tier team in the Western Conference.
In the meantime, Jackson Jr. has become a constant. In 2022-23, he was unlocked as a dominant help defender who won the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year award. This season, he’s unleashed a flurry of mid-range and driving moves to complement an already solid perimeter shot. While averaging a career-high 22.7 ppg and making his second All-Star Game, Jackson Jr. appears en route to another DPOY nod, or at least to be named to an All-NBA team. (Should either of those options come through, Jackson Jr. would qualify for a supermax contract extension worth about $345 million over the next five seasons.)
https://www.slamonline.com/the-magazine/slam-255/jaren-jackson-jr/