Trayce Jackson-Davis poised to provide unique threat for Warriors next season
Posting a double-double isn't overly notable in today's NBA, with no less than 2,247 double-doubles recorded in the league last season. That's an average of 75 per team, yet the Golden State Warriors accounted for just 46 of them.
That doesn't appear like an outlier either -- statistics suggests the Warriors haven't had consistent double-doubles threats on their roster over recent history. Guards Tim Hardaway Jr. (187) and Stephen Curry (158) lead the franchise in double-doubles over the past 35 years (per StatMuse), which acts as quite a surprise given the statistic is often dominated by big men.
Trayce Jackson-Davis is set to provide a unqiue threat for the Golden State Warriors as a constant double-double threat
Golden State's four championships in the past 10 years shows that individual double-doubles are far from a necessity, but it might still be nice to have a player capable of posting big numbers in more than just one category.
Over recent history, the Warriors have seldom had legitimate big men who can pose a threat on both ends of the floor and earn big minutes as a result. Their best lineups in the past decade have almost always included 6'6" Draymond Green at center, hence the team's lack of double-doubles compared to the remainder of the league.
Perhaps Trayce Jackson-Davis could be the one to change that. Last year's 57th overall pick posted six double-doubles in his rookie season, but it wasn't till late in the campaign where he started earning major minutes.
Across the final 22 games of the season from March 6 onwards, Jackson-Davis averaged 11.0 points and 7.2 rebounds in 24.6 minutes per game. Basketball Reference's per 36 minute projection for the 24-year-old next season is 17.5 points and 10.5 rebounds, suggesting that he could become a nightly double-double threat if his role expands to over 25 minutes per game.
Jackson-Davis averaged 20.9 points and 10.9 rebounds in his final collegiate season at Indiana, while also posting 4.0 assists and 2.9 blocks in his 34.5 minutes per game. Having already shown a thrilling combination of shot-blocking, rebounding and athletic finishing at the rim in his rookie year, the 6'9" big man is expected to be Golden State's primary center option entering next season.
While it won't necessarily be the difference on the Warriors fortunes next season, Jackson-Davis does bring an element that's been rather unique over recent franchise history and could act as an exciting element for fans to follow.