Sometimes you need to get a little lucky as a contending team by signing the right guys in free agency at a low cost and get more production than expected from them. The Milwaukee Bucks know the pros and cons of this philosophy very well.
They added Bobby Portis two offseasons ago at a bargain contract and turned him into one of their most valuable role players and was able to become a good starter this past season in relief of Brook Lopez.
They tried it last year with Semi Ojeleye and that certainly didn’t pay off as well. But they can go back to the well again this year with three younger, (hopefully) lower-cost options to fill some roster spots and give them a chance at higher upside swings being former lottery picks.
Josh Jackson is a former lottery pick for the Milwaukee Bucks in free agency
Josh Jackson has been a popular reclamation project for teams the last couple of seasons after being drafted fourth overall by the Phoenix Suns back in 2017. He didn’t work out with the Suns organization and was moved to the Memphis Grizzlies.
He shined with their G League affiliate and was given a longer look with the Detroit Pistons last year. Jackson played 62 games (25 starts) and averaged 13.4 points on 51.6 percent true shooting, 4.1 rebounds, 2.3 assists, as well as nearly a block and steal per game.
He didn’t have as much success this season with the Pistons and was moved in the Marvin Bagley deal to the Sacramento Kings where he played sparingly.
Jackson has never been much of a deep-range shooter (29.2 percent from 3 in his career) or efficient scorer in general but has a good frame at 6-foot-8 and 207 pounds to be a solid defender at his position and is a sneakily good passer. Milwaukee needs more wing defenders behind Khris Middleton in the rotation and while Jackson isn’t the sexiest name available, he could provide a service.
Jackson is still only 25-years-old and would be a very cheap option as an unrestricted free agent. The expectations would be very low considering his career history but if they could find a role for him on offense as someone to finish around the basket, facilitate, and crash the glass then maybe he’s worth taking a flier on to bring into training camp.