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2022 Free Agents - Josh Jackson

Summary
After two disastrous years in Phoenix, Jackson had a bounce-back year in '19-'20 with the Grizzlies, and turned that into a solid two-year contract with Detroit that summer.

After having an above-average eFG% of 53.4% in '19-'20. Jackson came back down to earth a bit in '20-'21 with an eFG% of 47.3%, which was near the bottom of the league for his position and similar to what he shot early in his career. The cause of that decline was shooting much worse at the rim (the 71% he shot there in '19-'20 was most likely an outlier), along with taking more midrange jumpers and seeing a decline in three-point percentage from 34% to 31%. Those declines continued into the '21-'22 season, as his 45.5% eFG% was even worse than the previous season, highlighted by only hitting 27% from three.

Jackson is no longer lost on defense like he was early in his career, but he's still below average. He has a nice steal and block rate but his overall defensive awareness and IQ leaves something to be desired.

At this point, Jackson just doesn't have a go-to skill to rely on. I think he can be in a rotation but is probably not someone you would trust to get playoff minutes. I think he's a solid 9th or 10th man but you wouldn't want him to be more than that, and overall is about replacement-level.
 
Cap Considerations
Jackson will be an unrestricted free agent with a $6.5 million cap hold and Early Bird rights. The Kings could offer Jackson a starting salary of up to 5% more than the average salary (likely around $10.9 million) using the Early Bird exception, which will be more than enough should they wish to re-sign him.

Other teams will have multiple ways to sign Jackson as even teams without cap space could possibly use either of the Non-Taxpayer MLE, Taxpayer MLE, Room MLE, or possibly even the Bi-Annual Exception to sign him. There's also a possibility that Jackson only gets minimum offers.

Potential Teams: Kings, 76ers, Cavaliers, Hornets, Pelicans

Predicted Contract: 1-year, $2.1 million ($1.8 million cap hit) with the Kings

Actual Contract: 1-year, $2.1 million (non-guaranteed) with the Raptors

Jackson was unable to get a guaranteed contract. He has a chance to make the final roster, but it looks unlikely based on the open spots.

Last updated: 8/31/2022

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