1 Area in GG Jackson's game has Grizzlies reporter concerned about role in 2024-25

Amid the turmoil of their injury-plagued 2023-24 campaign, GG Jackson proved to be one of the lone bright spots for the Memphis Grizzlies.

The 45 overall pick in last June's NBA Draft, Jackson burst onto the scene within Taylor Jenkins' rotation. He put forth a mesmerizing rookie season that saw him post averages of 14.6 points and 4.1 rebounds while shooting 35.7 percent from distance en route to an All-Rookie Second Team selection and, perhaps more noteworthy, a multi-year pact with the club.

Following his year-one breakout, the 19-year-old heads into a highly anticipated sophomore follow-up where the goal for him is to build upon his strong production and establish himself as a key piece within Memphis' title-hungry core consisting of presumably healthy studs Ja Morant, Jaren Jackson Jr., and Desmond Bane.

Through five games played during this year's NBA Summer League, it appears Jackson is, in fact, on the right track for an equally impressive second season, as he's putting up impressive averages of 20.2 points and 9.0 rebounds per night while leading the Grizzlies to a 3-2 record throughout and an undefeated 3-0 stretch since the start of the Las Vegas stretch of the tournament.

However, despite these specific successes, there are still a few areas within his arsenal that need to improve before he can be entrusted as a major cog within coach Jenkins' rotation, and, on a recent episode of Locked on Grizzlies, team beat reporter Damichael Cole noted that playmaking is a major deficiency in his game.

Grizzlies beat reporter sounds off on GG Jackson as a playmaker

"[Playmaking] is a crucial developmental area of GG Jackson's game. If he doesn't become that secondary facilitator that Desmond Bane has become or Marcus Smart as a connector and things like that, it kind of puts you in a position to question where he fits in terms of, is he a starter, is he going to come off the bench... Playmaking, getting other guys involved has not been a strength of his game."

- Damichael Cole

Throughout his rookie season, Jackson only dished out an average of 1.2 assists per game, while simultaneously committing 1.4 turnovers a night, essentially nullifying these limited amount of dimes.

Thus far into Summer League, the Grizzlies youngster isn't fairing all that much better in this department, as he's only registered a total of five assists compared to 14 turnovers through five games.

Despite these highlighted struggles, however, Cole did acknowledge that his concerns over Jackson's distribution skills are "long-term outlook" related and that, in many ways, "he's kind of covered that up in the way he has rebounded the basketball" throughout Summer League play.

Still, in order for him to reach another level in his game and to help benefit his already honed skills, adding playmaking to his bag of tricks should be a top priority for the tweener forward heading into 2024-25 and beyond.