Trayce Jackson-Davis '23-'24 season review: More bounce to the ounce

DUNKS! BLOCKS! SCREENS! HE'S A STEVE KERR BIG MAN DREAM!

The legacy of fathers who hooped in the NBA and their children following in their footsteps to the Warriors has defined the Splash Bros era. Like Stephen Curry (son of Dell), Klay Thompson (son of Mychal), and Andrew Wiggins (son of Mitchell). Also, bonus points to JaVale McGee for his mom being a hooper (Madam Pamela).

AND GARY PAYTON II, SON OF GARY FREAKIN’ PAYTON, OAKLAND’S VERY OWN!

That legacy continues now with the 24-year old Trayce Jackson-Davis, son of former Indiana Pacers bruiser Dale Davis. Here’s a clip of Dale dropping 20 points on the Shaq-Kobe L.A. Lakers in the 2000 NBA Finals.

That’s some old school big man basketball right there folks. His son TJD was drafted in the 2nd round as the 57th pick by the Washington Wizards before being traded to the Golden State Warriors. In 68 games (16 starts) in his rookie career, he averaged 7.9 points, 5 rebounds, 1.2 assists, and 1.1 blocks per game on 70%(!) shooting from the field.

He showed the savvy of a four year college player, and the grit of grown man who clearly has Dale Davis’ DNA flowing through his veins. That competitive spirit showed up big time when he attacked the 7-foot-4 phenom Victor Wenbamyama, a fellow member of TJD’s 2023 draft class, albeit a bit higher on the hype train after going freakin’ #1 overall.

SHOW HIM HOW THEM DAVIS’ BOYS DO, TRAYCE!

TJD’s rookie season was one to remember

In Eric Apricot’s world famous draft series, the DNHQ draft tourney, he led the community to learn more about TJD’s draft prospects.

An excerpt from Apricot’s research here included a quote for Adam Spinella from The Box and One publication:

He became a skilled passer and facilitator atop the key, a rebound-and-run threat, and a guy who can break down a defense in a variety of ways.

With that in his arsenal, the offensive output for TJD has changed. He’s not longer an undersized roll man who can’t use his right or shoot. He’s a mismatch threat against stiffer bigs due to his ability to take them off the bounce and make the right team play. He can pass or score it, patient but bursty and crafty yet explosive.

There are still questions about how Jackson-Davis, an undersized post player without enough perimeter skill to truly play on the wing, is going to translate in the NBA. After this most recent year at Indiana (and with how undeniably impactful he was), there’s at least an easier path to seeing how he can positively impact the game at the 5.

And in the comment section it was our very own esteemed DNHQ member hammystyle who wrote:

But I like TJD more. There’s a lot of obvious caveats to an older prospect like him without a perfect positional fit. I just like players who keep getting better. He does a LOT of things good but not great. Lob finisher, post finisher, rim protection, perimeter D rebounding, and passing. No outside shot yet. He’ll probably add it. If he adds it, you’ve got kind of a smaller Al Horford. Or if the late age role player version of Blake Griffin was healthier and had 87% of his prime vertical. It’s a playoff rotation player for sure and if the shot is there it could easily be a starter.

TJD exemplified much of what hammystyle referenced here in his rookie season as a Dub. A great example of that would be his 19-point, 9-rebound, 3-block performance against the New York Knicks where he set a franchise rookie record for most field goals made without a miss with nine.

You see the lobs, the smooth finishes in the paint, and the rim protection? His work on the floor showed up in the boxscore consistently. Here are his single game season highs in his rookie year:

• Points - 20

• Rebounds - 15

• Assists - 5

• Steals - 3

• Blocks - 4

Those are pretty good flashes of excellent contributions from his big-man position. His athleticism in particular showed, and not just in that aforementioned clip when he bammed Wenbamyama into the netherworld. Did you know TJD had 112 dunks last season, good enough for 18th overall in the NBA? LET THAT BOI SLAMMA JAMMA!

And on the defensive side, he showed the ability to toggle between hounding guys on the perimeter and in transition with his length and athleticism. He also proved he can play center field, monitoring cutters and passing lanes and rejecting rim forays like antivirus software smacking down malware. He has the IQ to go along with that prodigious bounce. TO THE HIGHLIGHTS!

I really like this young hooper, and his work ethic and skillset even gained him the attention of the Team USA machine. He was chosen to be a part of the select team that battled the Team USA Men’s basketball team ahead of the Olympics to prep them for their trek to Gold in France.

How soon before he’s actually a member of a future gold medal squad himself?

For a guy who averaged 11-points and 7-rebounds as a starter, it’s clear he can make an impact for the Dubs sooner rather than later. In my mind, he’s the best option the team has at that center position right now, and if he adds any kind of mid-range jumpshot to his game, I think he could finally cash in on the deferred dreams I had of James Wiseman being GSW’s big man of the future *breaks into sobs*.