2018 NBA Mock Draft: Way too early edition

Maryland’s Justin Jackson originally declared for the 2017 NBA Draft, but decided to return to school for his sophomore season despite rising into the late first round of many publicly available draft boards by the end of the pre-draft process. The 6-foot-8 forward is built in the mold of a prototypical 3-and-D wing and given that he already weighs in at 230 pounds, there’s some chance he could play a bit of small ball power forward as the league downsizes.

Jackson is almost entirely an off ball offensive threat as 38.1 percent of his possessions last season were used on spot up opportunities while only 13.6 percent of them came on creation opportunities like post ups, isolations or pick-and-rolls, per Synergy Sports. The 20-year old was an elite outside shooter, though, canning 43.8 percent of his 3-point attempts. He also ranked in the 95th percentile at 1.226 points per possession on jump shots in the halfcourt and 93rd percentile at 1.333 points per possession on catch-and-shoots, per Synergy Sports. Interestingly, he was a sub-70 percent free throw shooter, so it will be worth watching how well he shoots it from deep as a sophomore.

Defensively, Jackson has elite length with a 7-foot-3 wingspan to go with his big frame. However, he didn’t really put it all together, at least statistically, as a freshman, averaging just 1.3 steals and 1.1 blocks per 40 minutes.