‘I’m excited about his potential and what he can become’: Successful rookie season for Trayce Jackson-Davis opens door to enhanced role in year two

Trayce Jackson-Davis didn’t know what to expect coming into his rookie season and neither did the Golden State Warriors. After being selected with the 57th overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, Jackson-Davis spent most of the first half of the year bouncing between the G-League and the back end of the Warriors’ rotation.

Playing for an organization like the Warriors,  Jackson-Davis’ opportunities didn’t come as quick as other rookies. But, it gave him time to learn and grow in the mental aspect of the game — learning from a handful of expected Hall of Fame players in Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Chris Paul and Draymond Green. Also with a terrific coach in Steve Kerr.

It was an experience that will only prove to be beneficial as his career develops moving forward.

“I feel like even from the beginning of the year to now I’ve definitely grown in confidence,” Jackson-Davis said in his exit interview following the Warriors loss this week. “I’m just being put in position. Coach trusting me to guard some of these guards and not always relying on playing roamer a little bit more than guarding just the big. I just feel like it’s going to continue to grow with repetition, but obviously I think I’m starting to get more confident.”

Coming along slowly was crucial in his eventual success this season, however. Jackson-Davis ended this year with averages of 7.9 points, 5.0 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.1 blocks per game. He appeared in 68 games and had 16 starts, averaging 16.6 minutes per game. He also 70.2 percent from the floor.

He started the final 11 games of the season for the Warriors, playing 25.3 minutes per game. He saw his averages increase to 10.5 points, 7.7 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.6 blocks per game.

His production and consistency has now given the Warriors a very important piece moving into the next phase of the organization. One where there are a lot of questions about the roster. Will Draymond Green and Klay Thompson be back? How many more years will Steph Curry and Chris Paul have?

Regardless, Trayce Jackson-Davis will be part of the future.

“I do have a lot of faith in Trayce,” Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said. “I think he can get a lot better. I think the guy he played against in Sacramento, Sabonis, is somebody he should emulate. Just the aggressiveness, the ability to score around the basket, the left-handed, the DHO game, the ability to handle the ball. Trayce has a lot of those attributes. So I’m excited about his potential and what he can become, but too early to decide who is going to start and what, whether that combination will be the one we go to.”

Jackson-Davis has improved every summer he’s been involved in basketball. The jump he’s made over the last few years is evident. He’ll be looking to do the same this summer ahead of a sophomore year where he’ll likely be playing extended minutes.

“I just think that obviously my body. Coming in last year I got hurt, I didn’t really get a full summer, so I’m really honing in on this summer on working on my body, working on getting stronger upper body, lower body,” Jackson-Davis said of what he’ll work on this offseason. “Then just doing whatever the coaches need me to do. We just had a discussion up there, so just honing in on some of the parts of my game, being more offensive minded, defensively still bringing pressure, being able to switch, guard guards and stuff of that nature. I think that all just comes with reps.”

Kerr’s comparison of Trayce Jackson-Davis to Domantas Sabonis resonated with the former Indiana basketball star.

Jackson-Davis, a lefty like Sabonis, has a lot of similar skills. Both are skilled passers for their size and excel at finishing around the basket. One are that Sabonis has mastered since coming into the league is his ability to be a knockdown shooter from 15 feet, the next step for Jackson-Davis.

“Yeah, when we actually talked, coach mentioned Sabonis’s name and I think just the force that he plays with,” Jackson-Davis said. “He feels like with the dribble handoffs, stuff of that nature, he might attempt one three a game, but that’s not necessarily who he is as a player. But it’s (shooting) definitely something that I want to expand on. The free throw (free throw line extended jumpers), going in practice and knock ’em down, so I have to translate that over as well. I think the free throws and then being able to catch and shoot three, I think that’s something that I also need to expand on.”

The next time we’ll see Trayce Jackson-Davis is this summer — as he confirmed he’ll 100 percent be playing in the NBA Summer League.

“Yeah, definitely going to play in summer league,” he said. “The stuff that I work on in the off-season, translate it to there.”

And, despite the season ending the way it did — with a 118-94 loss to the Kings in the NBA Play-in game — Jackson-Davis came out with a great deal of experience this year, something he’ll reflect on before getting back to work.

“I thought overall I had a pretty solid rookie season,” Jackson-Davis said. “Obviously there’s always room for growth. But just kind of just going through the ups and downs and embracing the struggle, embracing the success not getting too high or too low, but just trying to stay even.”

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