On Isaiah Jackson picking up where he limped off

And whether he can provide returns for the Pacers in his return to the Pacers

By: Caitlin Cooper I @C2_Cooper

Isaiah Jackson may still be down, but he certainly isn't out. Or, at least not on the outs with the Pacers, as the fourth-year big man has agreed to a three-year, $21 million dollar deal to keep his feet planted in Indiana, reports ESPN's Shams Charania. Of course, after tearing his Achilles at the start of last season, he still has to show how steady he can be on his feet in his return to play, but if his play can at all come close to matching or (eventually) exceeding his previous level, then the Pacers will have added some variety to what depths they can tinker with on defense while taking another spin on their rotation carousel of depth at center.

Just think back to the play in which he tore his Achilles. When that game in New Orleans started, Pascal Siakam was guarding Yves Missi, Myles Turner was opposite of Zion Williamson, and Aaron Nesmith was the primary assignment on Brandon Ingram. When the game ended, with the Pacers going down by a score of 125-118, Turner was guarding Missi, Siakam was opposite of Williamson, and Ben Sheppard, who is officially listed at all of 6-foot-6, was the primary assignment on Ingram, at 6-foot-8. Remember, Andrew Nembhard wasn't available due to knee soreness, and Aaron Nesmith was eventually ruled out with the ankle sprain that sidelined him for over two months.

With the team's two top perimeter defenders on the shelf, that meant the crunch-time burden of contesting Ingram, who certainly wasn't shy with letting the ball fly, as he finished with 26 points on 25 shots, fell to Siakam. Well, that is, the burden fell to Siakam up and until this possession occurred.

Rather than chasing over with Siakam, this would've been the more palatable option. Of course, if Siakam switches, that means Turner also has to switch.

In that event, Zion might not have gotten downhill with as much momentum, but Turner would've needed to hang in space against Ingram, and he wouldn't have been around the rim to rebound. The Pacers eventually progressed to switching 4-5 actions in the first round of the playoffs against Giannis Antetokounmpo; however, the way in which Giannis and Ingram attack as mid-range scorers is quite different, with the former more often going there as a counter when defenses have to be willing to live with something (anything!), whereas the latter perhaps lives there too often, albeit more fluidly while requiring that the player who is chasing over to actually get over. Hence the reason why Sheppard entered the fray.

At any rate, Turner isn't on the roster anymore, and at the time, it looked as though switching against that particular match-up would've been more feasible if Jackson had been able to stay in the game.

Turns out, that's exactly what he was trying to execute when he sustained the non-contact injury to his calf that was later ruled to be an Achilles tear. After eagerly leaving his feet on the pump-fake, he was extra gingerly on the landing. Meanwhile, in the wake of that highly unfortunate occurrence, the Pacers gave up a second-chance on the glass, as would be the risk.

In that way, while Jackson doesn't offer as much in the way of potential alignment flexibility as Jay Huff, who the Pacers recently acquired via trade, Huff also doesn't offer as much in the way of potential to mix coverages, sometimes within the same possession. As was laid out here, there's reason to think that Huff is a single pick-and-roll coverage big, as the Grizzlies routinely played him at centerfield, dropping him back into a one-man zone against certain match-ups.

Some of that is more so a commentary on Memphis' overall defensive philosophy than Huff's versatility, but his tendency to, at times, allow ball-handlers to get into deep, advantageous positions that force him into longer, arduous closeouts, suggests that he's likely to be more effective when the radius of his rim protection is kept closer to the basket.

All of which is to say that, while it remains to be seen whether the Pacers have a starting-caliber center, they certainly have several differing options at center (including James Wiseman and Tony Bradley), of which they can alternate between solving varying problems in the short-term even if none of them ultimately provides all of the answers for the long-term.

In the meantime, Jackson staying put in Indiana is significant for reasons other than just the reality that Turner is no longer a fixture at center for Indiana.

Just look at the team's past decade of draft history, along with the outcomes of their rookie/two-way deals:

2015 - Myles Turner (signed four-year, $72 million extension); Joe Young (team option declined)

2016 - Georges Niang (waived)

2017 - TJ Leaf (traded with future second-round draft pick); Ike Anigbogu (waived); Edmond Sumner (signed three-year, $6.4 million deal after being converted from two-way deal to standard contract)

2018 - Aaron Holiday (traded with pick No. 31 to move up for Isaiah Jackson at No. 22 in 2021 Draft); Alize Johnson (signed one-year, Exhibit 10 deal with Raptors)

2019 - Goga Bitadze (waived)

2020 - Cassius Stanley (pulled qualifying offer)

2021 - Chris Duarte (traded for two second-round draft picks); Isaiah Jackson (signed three-year, $21 million extension)

2022 - Andrew Nembhard (signed three-year, $59 million extension); Bennedict Mathurin (TBD)

2023 - Jarace Walker (TBD); Ben Sheppard (TBD); Mojave King (rights traded to New Orleans as part of deal for Indiana's own 2026 first-round pick)

2024 - Johnny Furphy (TBD); Tristen Newton (waived); Enrique Freeman (TBD)

2025 - Kam Jones (TBD); Taelon Peter (TBD)

That means, without knowing what's to come for Bennedict Mathurin, Jarace Walker, Ben Sheppard, Johnny Furphy, Enrique Freeman, Kam Jones, or Taelon Peter, Jackson joins Nembhard and Sumner as the only Pacers' draft picks to sign an extension or second contract since Turner.

Granted, some of that speaks to a spotty draft record, as well as the team's excellence in making trades for players with untapped potential who have thrived in different contexts. That said, while there is certainly need at his position, the fact that Jackson is sticking around should still be viewed as a turning point -- albeit pending what sort of turns he proves capable of making at the point in which he returns, picking up where he limped off.