A consensus All-American as a senior for the Indiana Hoosiers last season, most expected forward Trayce Jackson-Davis to be a first-round pick in Thursday’s NBA Draft. In fact, Sportsnaut ranked him as our 24th-best prospect in the draft.
That’s why it was so shocking to see Jackson-Davis fall to the Golden State Warriors with the 57th pick in the annual event. Golden State traded into the second round with the Washington Wizards to acquire the rights to the four-time All-Big 10 player after selecting guard Brandin Podziemski with the 19th pick earlier in the draft.
At about the same time, the Warriors put in their draft card in the first round, Jackson-Davis was on social media warning the teams that passed up on him.
That’s not too subtle. Going to the Warriors with the second-to-last pick in the draft is not how the 6-foot-9 forward imagined his Thursday evening going. After all, he put up some elite numbers for Indiana a season ago.
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Trayce Jackson-Davis stats (2022-23): 20.9 PPG, 10.8 RPG, 4.0 APG, 2.9 BPG, 58% shooting
There is a reason Jackson-Davis fell to the second round. He has no perimeter game. In today’s NBA, that’s a huge red flag.
Despite this, the former top-20 recruit seems to fit what the Golden State Warriors are looking for. In fact, new general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. expects Jackson-Davis to be on the 15-man roster as a rookie.
Perhaps, he’ll have a chance to prove the naysayers wrong out of the gate.