No more GG Jackson on the injury report (knocks on 100 pieces of hypothetical wood). No more minutes for the Memphis Hustle of the G-League. No more wondering how he will look next to Ja Morant...
OK, with Ja questionable for the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Game today against the Timberwolves there’s a 50/50 chance we have to keep wondering that.
But hey - GG Jackson is officially back for the Memphis Grizzlies! And in theory, we should be able to finally start getting some much needed answers to important questions.
Questions such as...where will GG fit back in to the rotation? The Memphis Grizzles are in a bit of a different spot than the last time GG was getting reps with the squad. Memphis is back among the best in the NBA - maybe not a true title contender, but a tier away. That’s a far cry from what the Grizzlies were when GG was being asked to carry the burden of both being a scoring weapon and a defensive stopper.
Now? He can get by with a little more help from his friends. An All-NBA big man in Jaren Jackson Jr., an All-Star guard in Desmond Bane, and of course Morant himself - who GG has never logged any meaningful playing time with. The idea of a 20-year-old, 6'9", 235 pound combo forward alongside Memphis’ “big three” is tantalizing.
But it is hard to get too excited about such possibilities without actual evidence. And GG’s lack of creation last season of offense for anyone other than himself can give pause. In fairness, GG played his most minutes last season with Trey Jamison and Jordan Goodwin (plus Scotty Pippen Jr. and Jake LaRavia). How much trusted passing are you going to make?
Still, actually seeing the productivity that earned GG All-Rookie Team honors next to actual Memphis Grizzlies starters is something to look forward to. But how can a player as young as GG find his footing without a training camp, without a preseason? You hope that the time in the G-League helped of course - and the vertical alignment between the Memphis Hustle and the Grizzlies can be a major plus in that regard.
Similar scheme, similar structure. More about experimentation, development, and implementation than victory. The time with the Hustle, while primarily for cardiovascular purposes, surely wasn’t a waste of time.
But those names mentioned above - Jemison and Goodwin in particular - are more of the G-League than the NBA. And Jackson will benefit from an improvement in talent. But his own growth - literal 20 pounds in muscle gained, for example - is the main reason for optimism. The sky being the limit is both literal and figurative. As the NBA Trade Deadline approaches, Memphis must figure out if they need to make another transaction to make the team whole.
Well, it is possible that the team is taking a major step toward that today. GG Jackson has that kind of talent. How fast can it mesh with this current, better, version of the Grizzlies?
Time to start finding out.
