Dallas Mavericks: Grading Justin Jackson’s 2019-2020 season

Dallas Mavericks defense: Justin Jackson

Jackson produced 2.4 rebounds, 0.2 steals, and 0.2 blocks per game in his limited minutes. Those traditional defensive stats rarely tell the story, though.

Coach Rick Carlisle and the Mavericks used Jackson all over the floor this season. He played primarily at the four. The 25-year-old saw minutes at every position except point guard according to Basketball-Reference. The versatility is a plus. Jackson spent nearly all of his time guarding forwards.

It is always difficult to gauge an individual player’s defense. They are playing within a scheme and one-on-one matchups vary in difficulty levels. Jackson was not getting roasted or constantly targeted while he was on the floor.

The advanced metrics were not favorable here. Jackson’s 0.6 defensive win shares put him 266th in the NBA. His negative defensive box score plus-minus ranked him 405th. ESPN’s defensive real plus-minus had him 394th. FiveThirtyEight’s defensive RAPTOR was the most favorable at 231st.

Defensive grade: D

Justin Jackson struggled on the defensive end of the floor. He did not produce much in the way of traditional stats, and the advanced metrics rated him unfavorably. That combination forced me to handout out a second D grade for his season thus far.

Next: Overall grade