The Golden State Warriors, just over a quarter of the way into the season, have potentially been left in a familiar position: in need of a center who can help elevate this team into championship contention.
While Quinten Post has shown promising developments, offseason signing Al Horford has been either unavailable or ineffective to this point in the season, and it appears, frankly, as though Trayce Jackson-Davis may have reached his ceiling as a fringe rotation player.
Although it was always unlikely, or even impossible, that Jackson-Davis would be the guy to solve the Warriors' center woes, his offensive struggles have intensified an already existent problem for the team, and the combination of all of these factors could force them into a move they thought they had successfully avoided this offseason.
Warriors' Trayce Jackson-Davis issues have been intensified by a lack of depth on the Warriors' roster
After a promising rookie season, especially for the 57th overall pick in his draft class, Jackson-Davis came into the 2024-25 season with lofty expectations for his role. He started in lengthy stints for Golden State at the beginning of that season, and yet it quickly became clear that, as a result of his under-sized stature, he was not going to be a long-term solution.
The emergence of Quinten Post erased some of the vulnerability that the Warriors experienced as a result, but, again, their defensive presence in the paint was not sufficient, requiring Draymond Green to step into a role that his game is, decidedly, not aptly designed for.
Now, even with the signing of Al Horford this offseason, it seems like Golden State is back in the same spot, and Jackson-Davis's offensive struggles have not helped in the least. Although his minutes have decreased from his total averages last season, he's found his way back into the rotation, averaging just 4.6 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 12.7 minutes per game.
Moreover, his offensive box plus-minus rests squarely at a career low -1.2.
As dynamic of a lob threat as he can be, the Warriors must, ultimately, come to a point where they realize that this is likely his ceiling. As a depth, fringe-of-the-rotation center, this is completely adequate.
Yet, if Horford is going to miss extended time this season, and essentially represent a non-factor in the team's rotation, Jackson-Davis will certainly be more than that, and Golden State desperately needs more out of whoever they have behind Post.
It's a question that lurked behind the Horford signing and now stands quietly in the midst of the number of other questions that the Warriors need to answer this season. Is Jackson-Davis a viable center to keep on an NBA roster? If not, does he have any trade value whatsoever?
If Post continues playing the way he has been and Horford comes back to full health, Golden State will happily utilize a combination of those two and Green to fill out the center minutes. Yet, if those things do not happen, the team could have a serious Jackson-Davis problem they need to address.