New Orleans Pelicans: Frank Jackson needs a chance to shine
Frank Jackson has had his career slowed by injuries, but if the New Orleans Pelicans can find him minutes, he can certainly excel.
New Orleans Pelicans guard Frank Jackson, drafted 31st overall in the 2017 NBA draft, has never played in an NBA game. He’s had three surgeries in less than a year and a half. Prior to this year’s summer league, we hadn’t seen anything from Jackson since he left a stacked Duke Blue Devils squad.
Jackson’s brief summer league stint showed both the potential risks and rewards of drafting him. After the first half of basketball, Jackson had an impressive 16 points and 6 rebounds. In the second half, he sprained his ankle. Just like that, his summer league was over.
Now it seems that Jackson is ready to go. He’s been cleared for training camp as of September 21. But how much impact can the 20-year old combo guard really have on the New Orleans Pelicans this year?
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That’s a tough question to answer.
Although Jackson can technically play both point guard and shooting guard, his skill-set is more fit for the latter. He’s the same height as some of the league’s smaller shooting guards, including the likes of CJ McCollum, Donovan Mitchell, and Avery Bradley.
He shot 39.5% from three at Duke on 3.6 attempts per game. But due to Jrue Holiday’s breakout year last season, many of the team’s available shooting guard minutes are already accounted for.
Holiday will (hopefully) spend the majority of his minutes at the shooting guard position, which means Jackson will have a better opportunity if he plays at the point. However, it’s unclear how well Jackson can create for others.
He averaged less than 2 assists per game at Duke, despite playing on the same team as gifted shooters such as Jayson Tatum, Grayson Allen, and Luke Kennard.
The ideal solution would be to split Jackson’s time between the guard positions and see where he excels.
Considering the relative success the Pelicans had last year, it’s unclear whether Jackson will be given a chance to spread his wings. A hypothetical stint with the G-League could go a long way for Jackson’s development, but the Pelicans are one of only four teams that still don’t have a G-League affiliate, so they would have to send him to another G-League team.
So what can we really expect from Frank Jackson?
If given the chance, Jackson could thrive. He’ll have to compete with the likes of Holiday, E’Twaun Moore, Elfrid Payton, and Ian Clark for that opportunity. He’ll also have to compete against his own injury history.
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Injuries aside, Jackson has the talent to make an impact as a role player on this year’s squad. If he wants a bigger role than that, he’ll have to prove himself on the big stage this season.