Agent told centre Raptors were aggressively interested in him.
Article content
The newest member of the Toronto Raptors arrived during one of the chilliest days in years, but that’s not going to scare him away.
Advertisement 2
Article content
“I’m from the Midwest (Greenwood, near Indianapolis, Indiana), so I’m used to the cold, nothing new to me, happy to be here,” said Trayce Jackson-Davis after his first practice with the team Saturday.
Article content
Article content
Jackson-Davis is in his third NBA season, but his playing time has lessened since a strong rookie campaign with the Golden State Warriors. He learned a lot in that organization, but was OK with a change, especially when his agent said that Toronto “was very aggressively interested” in prying him away from the Warriors. He flew with the team to Phoenix, where they were set to play the Suns the next day, NBA trade deadline day. That night he got a call from Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. (coincidentally the older brother of his agent James Dunleavy). “(He) basically said that Toronto really, really wants you. He said that we love you here in Golden State, but you deserve to play and he said ‘this is going to be a great opportunity for you,’” Jackson-Davis said.
Your Midday Sun
Article content
Advertisement 3
Article content
“I was excited, a little nervous, obviously, moving cities, moving places, getting acclimated with everyone after Golden State. But already, just from today in practice, the guys are really, really cool, really good people, and I’m excited,” he said.
Toronto’s happy to have him after dealing a second-round pick to the Warriors late Wednesday night.
GOOD FIRST IMPRESSION
“Really good first impressions. You can see that he’s a very smart player,” said Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic. “He’s picking up things very quickly. He’s also asking really good questions in the parts of practice today when we went a little bit of live. He showed that he can be a really good lob threat for us. We’re not gonna take anything for granted, we’re not going to pass any judgment. We’re going to allow him to get incorporated into the team and to show us who he is and how the best that I can use him,” Rajakovic said.
His new teammates seem excited to have a bit of a human pogo stick in the arsenal. Jackson-Davis went viral for a monster dunk he threw down early in his career over gigantic Victor Wembanyama and RJ Barrett threw him a lob for a dunk on the first play of scrimmage Saturday.
Advertisement 4
Article content
“(Barrett) told me that earlier in the day he said, ‘anyone that dunks on Wemby, we’re throwing it up to him’. And so the first play, he threw me a lob, he said ‘I told you’. And so just already building chemistry with the guys,” Jackson-Davis said.
We apologize, but this video has failed to load.
POELTL RETURNS
Starting centre Jakob Poeltl returned to practice after a long injury layoff and liked what he saw from Jackson-Davis, who he has gone head-to-head with three times in the NBA. “Really solid, undersized, but knows how to find the spots to use his strengths to his advantage,” Poeltl said. “Really efficient in that way.” Jackson-Davis has averaged 9.3 points and 7 rebounds, shooting 70% from the field in those three meetings with Poeltl, who averaged 12 points and 12 rebounds in the games.
The 6-foot-9 (or 6-foot-10 according to some reports) centre will wear No. 32, the same jersey his father Dale Davis wore for years with the likes of the Indiana Pacers, Portland Trail Blazers and Detroit Pistons. While the trade was a new experience, Jackson-Davis knows all about how professional sports works. In addition to having an NBA father, his stepfather Ray Jackson who raised Jackson-Davis, was a standout NCAA football player who went to training camp with a few NFL teams then played in NFL Europe and Jackson-Davis said he learned a lot from his Warriors teammates like Steph Curry, Draymond Green and Jimmy Butler.
Now he’s ready to chart a new with the Raptors, who he described as a “young group, a hungry group that’s winning, building a winning culture.” Jackson-Davis added: “Here we have young guys leading, and I’m gonna fit in like a glove, so just can’t wait to get started. A lot of young athletic dudes, guys that can space the floor, guys that run in transition, athleticism, stuff that I do well, so it’s gonna be a lot of fun.”
@WolstatSun
Article content