GG Jackson had an active Summer of 2022, winning Peach Jam Defensive Player of the Tournament, then almost immediately both reclassifying to the 2022 recruiting class and changing his college commitment from North Carolina to South Carolina. Jackson had an up and down year, with a notorious Instagram Live appearance, where he decided to rant about his role not being satisfactory for him. Jackson finished the season averaging 15.4 PPG, 5.9 RPG, 0.8 APG, 0.8 SPG, 0.8 BPG, and 2.7 TOPG on splits of 38/32/68. Below is his full scouting report:
Name: GG Jackson
Height/Weight: 6’9/215
Wingspan/ standing reach: 6’11.5/8’10
Hand size: 10
Position: Forward
Pre-Draft team: South Carolina
Tools: Creation ability, size, athleticism
Pros:
- Dynamic athlete
- Creation ability with good handles
- High defensive upside; Peach Jam Defensive Player of the Tournament
- Nice hesi on drives
- Excellent cutting ability; difficult to stop on back-cuts
- Comfortable with both hands on drives
- Good footwork in the mid-post after stopping his dribble
Cons:
- Plays out of control at times on both ends; jumps too often on D
- Still raw at finishing moves and hitting shots off creation ability
- Needs a more consistent jumper
- Needs to speed up handles at times + make them more consistent
- Doesn’t have long arms; mild frame away from height
- Ridiculously raw; needs to learn how to play NBA basketball in a winning manner
- Inconsistent motor and awareness
- Not a willing passer
Swing Skills:
- Playmaking/passing
- Shaking raw habits/tendencies and becoming team-first over GG-first
Summary:
GG Jackson is a polarizing forward, given that he will be the youngest player in the league at 18 years old for the first two months of his rookie season. Teams will have to decide if the raw tools, a fascinating combination of athleticism, size, defense, and shooting upside, will outweigh his intangibles, feel for the game, and mild length. Jackson has ability as a 1-on-1 defender, particularly in isolation, but has shown many negative defensive traits off-ball, including over-helping on flashes and drives to leave the 3 point shot wide open, as well as ball-watching.
Offensively, GG Jackson’s shot selection and decision making are nothing short of alarming. He has no hesitance pulling early shot clock jumpers in a bad spot over multiple defenders, and often gets tunnel vision. His low assist rate exemplifies this eye-test problem, begging the question: are GG Jackson’s passing issues a fault of GG, or are they a function of the lack of great talent next to him at South Carolina and his long leash that the program has given him as a top prospect?
Only time will tell, but this means that Jackson will need to be drafted to the right team to hit his full upside as a two-way combo forward with three level scoring potential.
Similar to: Marcus Morris, Pascal Siakam, Rui Hachimura
Projected draft range: 8-22
Expected role: Combo forward with versatility on both ends of the floor.
Unplayable if: Selfish habits carry over into the NBA, and he continues his me-first mentality instead of a team-first approach.
Exceeds expectations if: Jumper continues to progress & develop, and he commits to learning team defense and sacrificing his own volume for the betterment of the team.
Videos:
Shot chart:
