Memphis Grizzlies: What’s going on with Jaren Jackson Jr.’s jump shot?

Jaren Jackson Jr.‘s return to the Memphis Grizzlies has been everything that it was hyped up to be — strong defense, scoring in the paint, and 3-point shooting. Except one of those things has been missing thus far.

Among strong basketball in his return, his shot has been as far off as a jump shot can be. Thus far, he has only made four out of his 23 attempts. His shot has been completely broken.

This is odd, especially considering how good of a shooter he was in his first two seasons with the Grizzlies.

Memphis Grizzlies F Jaren Jackson Jr. will get back on track

Even though his poor shooting has been extremely worrisome, it doesn’t feel like a huge problem. To draw a comparison, Ja Morant’s shooting slump felt somewhat hopeless. It was clear that he would bounce back, but he was never a good shooter, to begin with.

With Morant, it seemed like this could turn into a long-term problem, as he hasn’t proven at any point in his career that he’s a strong 3-point shooter.

With Jackson, his slump feels more like a stroke of bad luck than anything else. It’s not often that you see a guy shoot 36% in his rookie year, 39% in his sophomore season, and then fail to reach those marks again. We will see Jaren Jackson Jr. shoot over 40% in the near future, but there are still questions remaining.

The real worry here isn’t whether or not he’ll bounce back from deep — it’s a question of when he can bounce back from long range.

Ideally, the Grizzlies forward will get his shot going before the 2021 regular season comes to an end. Memphis shot the 3-pointer extremely well in the month of April but hit a slump in recent games. In a tight race for the 6th seed in the Western Conference, this is the time that the team needs to step up from long range.

If JJJ’s shot started dropping now, it would have a huge ripple effect on the rest of the team. Right now, defense is simple against the Grizzlies – play vigorous defense in the paint and you’ll be able to hold Memphis under 100. If you add a 3-point dimension to the Grizzlies’ game, they become virtually unguardable.

It is essential that JJJ finds a way to settle in and get his shot going. Hopefully, this will come soon, as Memphis doesn’t have much time to wait.