Memphis Grizzlies Predicted to Pick Up GG Jackson's Team Option

The Memphis Grizzlies have been predicted to pick up GG Jackson's team option for next season. 

Jackson has a team option worth $2.4 million for next season. 

"Still just 21 and coming off a season-high 28 starts with a scoring average of 12.5 points, the 6'9" Jackson has immense potential and could even develop into a go-to scoring option," NBA analyst Grant Hughes of Bleacher Report wrote. "It's too early to say that's a given, though, and the three-year vet is still subject to a few too many lapses in attention on both ends. That makes picking up the option and waiting to see more progress prior to an extension the smarter move."

For the Grizzlies this season, Jackson appeared in 55 games. He averaged 12.5 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game while shooting 49.6% from the field, 33.2% from beyond the arc and 74.2% from the free-throw line. 

Memphis is in rebuild mode, so keeping a youngster like Jackson on the roster makes perfect sense.

The Grizzlies are expected to trade Ja Morant this offseason, so building around Jackson, Zach Edey, Cedric Coward and the player the franchise takes with the third overall pick in this year's draft appears to be the route Memphis' front office is taking. 

Jackson holds career averages of 12.1 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game with the Grizzlies, who are retooling after trading Desmond Bane to the Orlando Magic last offseason and Jaren Jackson Jr. to the Utah Jazz at this year's trade deadline.

Once Morant is traded this summer, it will be a new era in Memphis. 

"It's not a question of whether the Memphis Grizzlies want to keep GG Jackson around; it's a question of when they want to commit to him on a longer deal," Hughes wrote. "Memphis could decline its $2.4 million option on Jackson, which would make him a restricted free agent. It'd be an interesting route that would come with matching rights and the potential to lock Jackson up at market rates. The wiser path is probably picking up the option and rewarding Jackson with an extension during the season if he proves worthy of it."

The Grizzlies used the 45th overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft on Jackson. They are widely expected to take former Duke star Cameron Boozer with the third pick in this year's draft. 

If Memphis takes Boozer, the team will have a talented core of Boozer, Jackson, Edey and Coward to build around. The Grizzlies could also get some talented players in return for Morant, who has been linked to the Milwaukee Bucks, Miami Heat, Phoenix Suns, Sacramento Kings and Minnesota Timberwolves in trade rumors. 

Memphis has never won an NBA championship. Only time will tell if the franchise can ever reach the promised land. 

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