It was a strange and ultimately disappointing second NBA season for Trayce Jackson-Davis, having started out as the Golden State Warriors’ starting center before being rarely utilized over the final few months.
Jackson-Davis did at least end on somewhat of a positive note, regaining a starting role over the final three games of the Warriors’ playoff run which is likely to help secure his future with the franchise moving forward.
The Warriors have a decision to make on Trayce Jackson-Davis’ future
Following a first year where he just missed out on All-Rookie Second Team honors, Jackson-Davis’ four-year, $7.6 million contract looked like an incredible steal for Golden State after they’d drafted him with the 57th overall pick in 2023.
That looks less so after a second year in which Jackson-Davis played more than 10 minutes just once over the final 37 games of the regular season. It leaves the Warriors with a decision to make on the 25-year-old’s future, though it’s unlikely that they take the previously unthinkable step of waiving Jackson-Davis.
That technically is a possibility. His $2.2 million deal for next season does not become guaranteed until January 10 next year, meaning Golden State could move on from Jackson-Davis without it being a hit to their finances.
Despite having three big men already on the roster, the Warriors are known to be wanting an upgrade and preferably a skilled starting center who could allow Draymond Green to move back to his traditional power-forward role.
That would mean one of their current centers are likely to be off the roster, with Quinten Post presumably safe after an impressive rookie season in which he led Golden State in 3-point percentage at 40.8%.
That leaves Jackson-Davis and another non-spacing big in Kevon Looney. What if the Warriors value Looney’s leadership, locker room presence and stature as a 3x champion to the point where they bring him back as an unrestricted free agent? That could leave Jackson-Davis in some trouble and surplus to requirements assuming another big man is added to the mix as well.
That’s the unlikely scenario. The clearer picture is that Looney moves on and that Golden State tried to upgrade the veteran big man spot, leaving Post and Jackson-Davis as backup rotation pieces to develop on team-friendly contracts.
In the event the Warriors do not see a future with Jackson-Davis, they’d be far more likely to guarantee his deal and trade him, more so than outright waive him. His late playoff resurgence makes a trade unlikely as well, with the hope Jackson-Davis can become much more like the athletic, two-way interior force we saw in his rookie year.
