Phoenix Suns' Josh Jackson playing fewer minutes than other top rookies

PHILADELPHIA – Josh Jackson’s teammates had put on their jackets and headed to the bus idling outside.

Jackson kept shooting. One 3-pointer after another, from different spots on the court. Finally, satisfied, Jackson bundled up and headed out into the chilly afternoon air.

“You just have to keep at it,” he said. “That’s why I’m still in here shooting and the last guy.”

In some ways, this has been a frustrating rookie season for Jackson. He loves his teammates and the city of Phoenix but he has not produced the results either he or the Suns likely expected when they made him the No. 4 pick overall in last year’s draft.

Jackson is averaging 9.2 points per game, shooting 39.4 percent from the field, 23.7 percent from 3-point range and 51.5 percent from the free-throw line. He’s also averaging more turnovers (1.9) than assists (1.0).

Of the top five picks – excluding Philadelphia’s Markelle Fultz, who has been injured much of the season – only the Lakers’ Lonzo Ball averages fewer points and has shot the ball worse than Jackson. But Ball averages 7.0 assists and 6.9 rebounds per game.

But those numbers require some context. Jackson also is playing fewer minutes than any of the other top picks (again, excluding Fultz).

Ball: 32.9 minutes per game.

Boston’s Jayson Tatum: 30.3 minutes.

Sacramento’s De’Aaron Fox: 26.1 minutes.

Jackson: 21.2 minutes.

The question, of course, is the basketball version of the chicken and the egg. Is Jackson not producing like the other rookies because he’s not getting as many minutes or is he not getting as many minutes because he’s not producing?

“Like I’ve said I’m not under any requirements to play guys,” interim coach Jay Triano said. “Play well, make the guys you’re out there with play better and I can keep you on the floor for that reason.”

Part of the problem, at least for Jackson, is Phoenix’s roster construction. T.J. Warren gets most of the minutes at small forward in part because he’s the Suns’ only reliable scorer (18.4 points) other than Devin Booker (23.6) After that, it drops off to center Greg Monroe and backup point guard Mike James, both at 10.8 points per game.

Triano has experimented with a lineup of Booker at point guard, Jackson at shooting guard and Warren at small forward but the inability of either Warren or Jackson to be a reliable 3-point shooter – Warren is shooting 14.3 percent – creates poor spacing and makes it easier for teams to double Booker.

“I sense his frustration in wanting to play but at the same time I have to ask what’s my best option for scoring when 'Book' is not in the game or if I’m trying to create space for 'Book',” Triano said. “It’s T.J. at times. We’ve looked at 'Book' at the point but him at the point with two guys who are non-shooters makes it tough.”

Warren played extensively at power forward late last season but Triano already is trying to squeeze enough minutes for Marquese Chriss and Dragan Bender. Moving Chriss to center doesn’t make sense, either. There’s already at three-man logjam with Monroe, Tyson Chandler and Alex Len.

“It’s kind of where we are with our players on the roster right now,” Triano said.

So Jackson's playing time is limited and even unpredictable within games. Jackson played 10 productive first-half minutes in Phoenix’s 116-111 loss to Boston on Saturday, scoring six points on 3-of-4 shooting. But he played just five minutes in the second half.

“It’s hard. It’s definitely hard,” Jackson said. “You just have to keep the confidence in yourself. You just have to know it’s a long season. Yeah, I’m not playing as much as I want to but we have a lot of games ahead of us.”

Jackson understands why he’s in the position he’s in.

“I have a lot to learn and I have veteran guys ... in front of me who have been here a couple of years,” he said. “I just have to watch them and make the best of my opportunities. Try to come in the next game, do something good and hopefully it will turn around.”

Matchup problem

Philadelphia point guard Ben Simmons, who’s averaging nearly a triple-double (17.9 points, 9.4 assists, 7.1 rebounds), prefers to score in the paint and he has at least 10 inches on Suns point guards James and Tyler Ulis.

“For us it’s going to be about getting back in transition so we get the matchups we want,” Triano said.

That could mean shifting Warren or Jackson onto Simmons or playing a bigger backcourt with Booker at the point.

“We told our players to be ready to guard a variety of their players,” Triano said.

Iverson fan

Following the Suns’ shootaround Monday, Triano showed off a gray T-shirt he was wearing with Allen Iverson’s name on it. Turns out he’s a fan from his days as a coach with the Toronto Raptors.

“My daughter (Courtney) was ball girl in Toronto when I was coaching and she worked the visiting team’s bench,” Triano said. “I said to her one time, ‘Who’s your favorite player?’ She goes, ‘Allen Iverson.’ I was like, ‘Why?’ She said, ‘Because when I give him his warm-up jacket or a glass of water or a towel he looks me right in the eye and says thank you.’ I had a lot of respect for him after that.”

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Tuesday's game

Suns at Raptors

When: 5:30 p.m.

Where: Air Canada Centre, Toronto.

TV/radio: FSAZ/KTAR 98.7 FM

Update: The Raptors are 14-7 and in third place in the Eastern Conference. This will be a return home for Phoenix interim coach Jay Triano, who was Toronto’s head coach from 2008-11. DeMar DeRozan, who played for Triano in Toronto, leads the Raptors in scoring (23.4 points), and guard Kyle Lowry is averaging 16.4 points and shooting 41.2 percent from 3-point range. The Raptors are scoring 110.9 points per game, fourth in the league. The Suns are allowing 115.8 points per game, worst in the league. Phoenix will be on a road back-to-back and is finishing up a six-game, 11-day road trip.