'He's not afraid of shooting': Trayce Jackson-Davis shows expanded game in Pacers workout

INDIANAPOLIS -- Azuolas Tubelis saw a much different version of Trayce Jackson-Davis on Monday at the Ascension St. Vincent Center than the one he saw in Las Vegas in December.

Tubelis and fellow Arizona big man Oumar Ballo clearly got the best of Jackson-Davis that day. The 6-11 Tubelis and the 7-0 Ballo were one of the most dominant frontcourt duos in college basketball in 2022-23, and they were at their most unstoppable in an 89-75 win over Indiana. Tubelis posted 21 points in 28 minutes on 9 of 16 shooting with seven rebounds and three blocks. Ballo posted 15 points and 12 rebounds. Meanwhile Jackson-Davis finished with a modest 11 points, had more fouls (five) than field goals (four) and finished with five rebounds, and Arizona outscored the Hoosiers 42-22 in the paint.

But when Tubelis had to guard Jackson-Davis during Monday's six-man draft workout for the Pacers, he learned quickly that Jackson-Davis had expanded his game, adding a weapon that Tubelis didn't have to worry about when they played the first time.

"I know basically everything about him because we played against him in Vegas and we did our job then and we won the game, we shut him down," Tubelis, a second-team All-American said after the workout. "But now he got better. He made some tough 3s now. It just shows he's been working on it, all summer probably, and he's not afraid of shooting."

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Wait, what? Trayce Jackson-Davis hit 3s? In a game setting?

"No, he did," Tubelis said. "Basically in my face. I'm happy for him."

Jackson-Davis was happy about it too. In a season when he was a consensus first-team All-American and averaged career highs in points (20.9 per game) rebounds (10.8 per game) and assists (4.0 per game), that loss to Arizona was one of his more disappointing individual outings.

"The first time he got the best of me when we first played him," Jackson-Davis, a former Center Grove High School star and IndyStar Mr. Basketball said Monday in a post-workout media scrum that was by far the largest any Pacers' draft prospect has seen this cycle, including likely lottery pick Cam Whitmore. "Today, I kind of got my swagger back."

It matters much more, of course that Jackson-Davis got that swagger back by hitting 3s than it matters that he got the best of Tubelis. Outside shooting remains the most mysterious part of Jackson-Davis' game and a dominant feature in the narrative surrounding his entry into the draft.

He's done enough at this point to prove to teams that he's worth drafting whether they trust his outside shot or not, which is why he's consistently sneaking into the bottom of the first round in most mock drafts. With 2,258 career points at Indiana, Jackson-Davis proved he could reliably get to the rim and finish through contact. He was a consistent rebounder on both ends, he was unleashed as a rim protector when coach Mike Woodson was hired before the 2021-22 season and he improved every year as a passer until he finished seventh in the Big Ten in assists last season.

But the modern NBA wants outside shooting at every position, including among its big men, and especially among tweener big men like Jackson-Davis. He measured 6-8 1/4, 240.5 pounds at the NBA Draft Combine in Chicago in last month, which makes him shorter than most centers, but bigger than many power forwards. Modern power forwards are virtually required to be able to shoot 3s to keep the floor spread, and it's helpful for smaller centers to be able to at least hit the occasional pick-and-pop 3 so that they can force larger big men to defend them on the perimeter.

At the college level, Jackson-Davis played almost exclusively center, and, as he said in May at the Combine, he didn't force 3-pointers because he was so effective around the rim and felt it best for Indiana's hopes if he didn't spend a lot of time experimenting. In four seasons, he took just three 3-pointers, -- all in his junior year -- and missed all three. So now he's trying to prove that the problem wasn't that he couldn't shoot. He simply didn't.

"I've been in Los Angeles working on my game, working on my 3-point shot," Jackson-Davis said. "It's something that I've showcased in these workouts. The hard work that I've put in is paying off. I've been able to shoot 3s and hit them in live settings and that's something I'm going to have to do at the next level. ... They've never seen me do it. No one could know if I could shoot the ball."

The shooting is a particularly relevant to the Pacers if they have any interest in bring him in. Though president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard has been clear that the Pacers do not intend to actually use all five of their draft picks and plan to trade at least some of them, they currently hold picks No. 26, No. 29 and No. 32 along with No. 7 and No. 55. The middle three picks put them in range where it would make sense to pick Jackson-Davis, but it makes less sense for them to draft him from a positional perspective, especially if he ultimately functions best as a small-ball center.

The Pacers had so many centers on this year's roster that they had to release one and still couldn't get adequate minutes for those that remained. Jalen Smith was initially slated to start at power forward, but moved to center in December and created a logjam behind starter Myles Turner, taking minutes from bouncy big man Isaiah Jackson. Journeyman big man Daniel Theis made things even more complicated when he returned in February from knee surgery. The Pacers had to release former first-round pick Goga Bitadze and only played Theis in seven games. They could use some depth at the power forward, but they'd rather not draft a player of Jackson-Davis' caliber just to add to that glut.

They'd have to trust that they could play him at power forward, which is more and more a perimeter oriented position. Not only would he have to prove he could shoot the ball, he'd also have to prove he could switch on defense and guard players on the perimeter. Other teams are looking for Jackson-Davis to prove the same thing, so it's something he's focused on.

"I feel like I'm doing a good job," Jackson-Davis said when asked about his perimeter defense. "Obviously, at the next level, they're professional guards. They're going to hit tough shots, but having a hand-up, closing out, staying light on your feet, having lateral quickness, things of that nature, those are all things you have to do. At the end of the day, players are going to hit good shots, but it's having a good contest every time."

For his part, Jackson-Davis is not trying to get dragged into positional discussions. He wants to be considered a big man with a multi-faceted game, viewing Domantas Sabonis and Draymond Green among his basketball role models.

"I just think overall, I just gotta be a basketball player," Jackson-Davis said. "At the end of the day, whether I play at small-ball 5 or being able to play 4, it's just being able to guard positions out on the floor, then doing my job on offense, whatever the coach wants me to do. That's a big thing for me, being a basketball player, showing my IQ, athletic ability and everything that comes with it."

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Pacers: IU's Trayce Jackson-Davis proves he can hit 3s in workout