LAS VEGAS — On Monday, during the second and final scrimmage between the U.S. National Team and the U.S. Select Team, a moment emerged that highlighted many valuable lessons Trayce Jackson-Davis can take back to his hometown of San Francisco.
The Warriors’ second-year center set a high screen for Stephen Curry above the 3-point line for USA National Teammate Jamie Jaquez Jr., then rolled to the basket and the left-handed Curry finished off-handed over Joel Embiid. Then Jackson-Davis, thanks to LeBron James’ driving ability, got deep into the paint on defense and set Embiid free at the top of the arc.
And Jackson-Davis recovered just a moment later.
Jackson-Davis put his hand up, but there was enough space for Embiid to ignore it and give Jackson-Davis a three-pointer, a teaching moment that was surely reviewed on video later that day.
“It couldn’t be any better,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr, currently coaching the U.S. national team for the final time, told NBC Sports Bay Area.
Early in the scrimmage, Jackson-Davis started to set a screen for Brandon Miller on the left side of half court, then adjusted his body to his right, spun and fired a high pass over Embiid’s head. The Warriors’ second-round pick a year ago then settled down, jumped with both feet and was fouled by Anthony Edwards on the way back.
In the same scrimmage, Jackson-Davis was pushed all the way back by Embiid to the basket before the 2022-23 NBA MVP hit a twisting layup over Embiid, then Jackson-Davis lost sight of Curry on a backdoor cut but had the good fortune of watching Steph miss a reverse layup.
Another thing to keep in mind is another lesson to learn.
That willingness to see value in good times and bad was evident throughout the day. Golden State’s starting center’s hustle and agility late in the season forced Kevon Looney to the bench, but he also forced Jayson Tatum to smash the ball away when Jackson-Davis slammed it toward Tatum, exposing him down low.
But Jackson-Davis’ best play on Monday may have come off a missed shot.
Jackson-Davis guarded Curry at the 3-point line, used his length to force Anthony Edwards to hand the ball off, then sprinted to the other side when the Minnesota Timberwolves star missed, finding himself in a mismatch with Curry having to guard him in the post. Jackson-Davis took one strong dribble, and Edwards left Brandon Miller wide open in the left corner.
Jackson-Davis didn’t hesitate to find Miller, and the 2023 No. 2 pick in the NBA Draft drained a 3-pointer from the corner. The result didn’t matter. It was Warriors basketball on the UNLV practice court.
“I think it’s just a feeling,” Jackson-Davis said when asked where his game has improved the most since the start of his rookie year. “I feel like I’ve grown a little bit this year. I started this year in the G League, got a little bit of playing time here and there, spot appearances and then started at the end of the year. I feel like I’ve grown. I just need to continue to improve on that and what I need to do as a player to get my guys open shots and finish.”
There was more tension and excitement for the young select group in the first scrimmage on Sunday, as Jackson-Davis thrived against the biggest and best giants in the game, like Davis and Bam Adebayo, and it was hard to miss them asserting their will over Jackson-Davis.
Valuable lessons were being learned day by day.
Embiid didn’t name any players on the selection team that particularly stood out to him, but after playing against Jackson-Davis for a day, he emphasized how he has been preparing his players for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
“They gave us a challenge,” Embiid said, “which was pretty good for us. They play hard, they play fast. They run a lot of the actions that we’re going to see, especially at the Olympic team level. They did a great job.”
A stellar four-year college career at Indiana wasn’t enough for Jackson-Davis to be a high draft pick. He made his first NBA start in the Warriors’ final game of 2023 against the Dallas Mavericks, scoring 17 points on 8-of-11 shooting.
A little more than a year after slipping to the second round of the draft, Jackson-Davis and his rookie Warriors teammate Brandin Podziemski find themselves in a similar situation to Curry beginning his path to stardom.
“I didn’t make the selection team, but I was on the 2010 world championship team my rookie year,” Curry said. “I’m able to expand my game, get a little testing, work on some things and make the most of my summer. It’s pretty cool to see them go through a similar process.”
Jackson-Davis’ journey is a picture of how he gets better with each bigger opportunity he’s been given. The big man sporting a freshly cropped head and a closely shaven chin knows that after facing the likes of Embiid, Davis and Adebayo in back-to-back games, he’ll come out of this better, step by step.
“At the end of the day, I’m just blessed to be on the court with these guys,” Jackson-Davis said.
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