Could Injuries Plus A Career Performance Lead To More Minutes For GG Jackson?

Former South Carolina men's basketball star GG Jackson could see an uptick in minutes with the Grizzlies due to a career performance and the team's injury woes.

GG Jackson was recalled back up to the Memphis Grizzlies as a two-way player as of Friday after logging 40 minutes for the Grizzles' G-Leage affiliate, the Memphis Hustle, in a loss to the Birmingham Squadron on Thursday. The call-up couldn't have come at a better time, as Desmond Bane suffered an ankle injury and is listed as day-to-day. Jackson recorded 4 points and 5 rebounds against the Clippers on Friday.

GG Jackson trying to precent dribble penetration from Clippers guard Russell Westbrook (12th Jan., 2024) / Petre Thomas | USA Today Network

The Grizzlies have been tormented with injuries, losing Ja Morant (shoulder) and Steven Adams (knee) for the season; fellow frontcourt mate Brandon Clarke is also out for the rest of the season with a torn achilles. Currently, Jackson has only played in five NBA games this season, averaging 1.6 points minutes per game in sample size.

On the G-League level, Jackson is a budding prolific scorer, averaging 20.0 points and 7.4 rebounds per game with the hustle. Under normal circumstances, you want to ease your 19-year-old star into the swing of things; however, under the circumstances where your franchise players won't return, it's an ideal time to see what your young talent can do.

Jackson gave the front office a reason why he should stay on the Grizzlies roster on Saturday night, as he scored a career-high 20 points on 64.3 percent shooting from the floor in 27 minutes of action against the New York Knicks. This performance indicates that giving Jackson a true opportunity in the Grizzlies rotation would allow him to better showcase his offensive prowess. It'll be interesting to see what the team decides to do after this kind of performance from the South Carolina native.

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