GG Jackson's connection to Ja Morant, and his Memphis Grizzlies expectations

When GG Jackson walked back to his car on the night the Memphis Grizzlies made him the No. 45 pick in the NBA Draft, an unfamiliar number popped up on his phone. Jackson answered the Facetime call, and that's when he saw Ja Morant.

"Crib talk!" Morant said, referencing the South Carolina connection between himself and Jackson.

The connection dates back as far as Jackson can remember. When the new Grizzlies forward was a young kid around age 5, Ja father Tee Morant used to cut Jackson's hair for a couple of years. Jackson's grandmother lived about five minutes from the barbershop.

Jackson, 18, is about five years younger than Morant, so he was too young to participate when Morant was running around the barbershop with Jackson's older cousins.

The two Grizzlies players could be teammates this season, and reality is starting to set in for Jackson. When he came to Memphis after being drafted and was walking through the team facility, he was starstruck when he saw one of the Grizzlies stars.

"I was like, 'oh (expletive), that's Desmond Bane right there,'" Jackson said. "... He dapped me up, he was like, 'What's up young buck' and all that. I was like, 'Yo! I'm in the NBA, like what the world.'"

As a teenager who is supposed to be getting ready for his freshman year of college, Jackson isn't faced with high expectations as a rookie from a productivity standpoint. The Grizzlies are likely to put him on a two-way contract, but the flashes he's shown in Summer League suggest he can handle more.

Jackson scored nine points off the bench in the Grizzlies' 87-80 win in their first Las Vegas Summer League action against the Chicago Bulls. The rookie knocked down three of his six 3-point attempts.

Offense was always one of the biggest strengths in Jackson's game. Before reclassifying to the 2022 class, he was the No. 1 ranked player in the class of 2023 and had arguably the most versatile offensive skillset.

"I've been super thrilled with what he's shown," Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins said Friday. "You see the physical tools with the capability to make plays on both sides of the floor, defensively I'm loving his rebounding. ... Each game he is making progress. I expect him to continue to make that upward trend which he has shown the first three games."

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Most players have the ability to score in the NBA. For a rookie like Jackson, it's more about finding ways to be impactful. He's shown an ability to knock down spot-up 3-pointers, drive to the basket, post up smaller defenders and create havoc on the defensive end.

"I feel like I found my role," Jackson said. "Not fully just yet, but for this Summer League team, I definitely feel like I find my role. Whether it be corner sitting when the top dogs are on the court or defensively, I feel like I been working my (butt) off."

Early signs suggest Jackson is adjusting to changes of the NBA, and if Morant has anything to say about it, Jackson will be a great addition to the locker room, too.

During Saturday's game, NBA TV's Taylor Rooks reported that she had talked with Morant recently about Jackson.

"I spoke to him yesterday, and the person he was raving about was GG Jackson," Rooks said. "(Morant) has been so impressed with what he can do on the court."

Jackson has played at both forward positions with the Grizzlies so far, just like David Roddy and Jake LaRavia since last summer. While it looks like adding Jackson to the bunch could create a logjam, it shouldn't be seen that way.

Among LaRavia, Roddy and Jackson, the Grizzlies have three players with different skillsets. LaRavia is known as a shooter, Roddy is a high-level defender and Jackson has the ability to be a big-time scorer. The Grizzlies like versatility, and Jackson's addition could strengthen that.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: GG Jackson's connection to Ja Morant, and Memphis Grizzlies expectations