Indiana Basketball: What Jackson-Davis needs to improve to be drafted next year

2. Perimeter defense

Trayce Jackson-Davis will need to work on his perimeter defense in order to make the NBA. While he is a superb rim-protector, he often struggles when he is switched onto a guard or wing on the perimeter. When this happens, he looks like a clumsy puppy trying to regain its balance.

This happened often during the past season as Archie Miller is a big advocate of hedging on high screens which frequently leads to bigs being left stranded on the perimeter. This is a big weakness for Jackson-Davis in the Big Ten but it will become an even bigger issue if he makes the NBA as the league is very switch-heavy. This means bigs are often left on islands with players such as Kyrie Irving and Kemba Walker.

3. Shooting

The biggest, most glaring weakness in Jackson-Davis’s game is his outside shot. To be frank, he has zero jump shot. His shot needs a total revamping; His form looks like my granny trying to shoot a knock-out shot.

In his first season with the Hoosiers, he took a grand total of zero three-point attempts. If Jackson-Davis wants to be as big of a problem as he is in the B1G in the NBA, he will have to change that and fast.

The modern NBA is obsessed with the three-pointer and this could be an issue for him. In the NBA, bigs are expected to be able to pop out to the perimeter and threaten defenses with a long-range bomb here and there. In the league, traditional centers are a dying breed, and players such as Joel Embiid have understood this and has stretched his range accordingly. This needs to be Jackson-Davis’s number one priority.

However, before Jackson-Davis can become a long-range sniper, he has to become a mid-range threat. Believe it or not, Jackson-Davis hit a couple of mid-range jumpers this past season as the shot clock ran down. If Jackson-Davis can do this on a more regular basis it will open the floor up for his teammates and allow him more space to operate down in the post where he is the most comfortable.

Jackson-Davis has all the tools to become a quality NBA player in the future. But before he hears his name called on draft day, he will have to show everyone what he is capable of next year.