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Bruski 150SportsEthos 2026 Fantasy Basketball Draft Guide
What Went Wrong: Jaren Jackson Jr.
Last Updated on August 19, 2025 6:33 pm by André Lemos | Published: August 5, 2024
As the summer rolls on, the SportsEthos team is working away at the Draft Guide for the 2024-25 season. In the meantime, we still have a few moments to look back at the season that was. We’re reviving an old series here to take a deep dive into a few players who hit and missed in an effort to figure out why they disappointed or excelled, and most importantly, if it was a blip on the radar or a sign of things to come.
There might not have been a bigger early-round miss than Jaren Jackson Jr. last season. Between his ascension in 2022-23 and the first 25 games of the season without Ja Morant, Jackson was primed for a huge season with extended time to post elevated scoring numbers. Add that mix on top of a top-16/12 finish (8/9-cat) and you have an easy recipe for a certified early-round selection. Pretty much everything took a turn for the worse, as Jackson finished with a 40/53 spot in the 8/9-cat per-game rankings on an ADP of anywhere between 20 and 36, depending on where you played your fantasy games. That doesn’t quite tell the whole story either, as Jackson’s previously elite output in blocks made him the belle of the ball for managers with specific roster builds in mind. His combination of blocks and 3-pointers with so-so rebounds was tailor-made for some fun punt builds, but Jackson’s rocky season wrecked those plans before they even got off the ground. He got to a career-high in points, but at a ridiculous cost.
Here are his stats over the last two seasons so we can see exactly where Jackson lost his value:
| Season | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FGM | FGA | FG% | FTM | FTA | FT% | 3PTM | 3PTA | 3PT% | PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25-26 | UTA | 48 | 48 | 30.3 | 7.1 | 15.0 | 47.6 | 3.4 | 4.2 | 80.3 | 1.8 | 4.9 | 35.7 | 19.4 | 5.7 | 2.0 | 1.1 | 1.4 | 2.2 |
| 24-25 | MEM | 74 | 74 | 29.8 | 8.0 | 16.4 | 48.8 | 4.2 | 5.4 | 78.1 | 2.0 | 5.3 | 37.5 | 22.2 | 5.6 | 2.0 | 1.2 | 1.5 | 2.1 |
Obviously, Jackson took some major hits in field goal percentage and blocks, with the blocks in particular fueling his elite 2022-23 season. Now it’s on us to figure out why.
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Mike graduated from Boston University’s Dual Degree Program with a BA in Economics and a BS in Business with Concentrations in Marketing and Operations Management. He is a faithful supporter of Toronto sports and the Detroit Lions and is always ready to be let down. Tweet to him @Mike_Pandador, but if you badmouth Jose Calderon you might get blocked.
