Trayce Jackson-Davis Recaps Rookie Season With Golden State Warriors

Trayce Jackson-Davis averaged 7.9 points and 5.0 rebounds per game for the Golden State Warriors in 2023-24, and he recently reflected on his rookie season. Here's the transcript.

Trayce Jackson-Davis' rookie season came to an end on April 16 as the Golden State Warriors lost to the Sacramento Kings in the Play-In Tournament.

For the season, Jackson-Davis started 16 games and played in 68, logging 16.6 minutes per game. He averaged 7.9 points, 5.0 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.1 blocks per game. His 70.2% field goal percentage ranked fourth in the NBA among players with at least 175 attempts, and it's No. 1 all-time among Hoosiers with at least 300 field goal attempts in a single NBA season.

Following an All-American career at Indiana, where Jackson-Davis became the program's all-time leader in rebounds and blocked shots and finished third on the all-time scoring chart, he was taken 57th overall in the 2023 NBA Draft. But after one season in the NBA, he outperformed that draft slot. NBA.com recently projected that Jackson-Davis would make the NBA All-Rookie second team, making him one of the league's 10 best rookies.

Last Wednesday, Jackson-Davis met with the media for his end of season interview.

On rookie season living up to his expectatons...

Jackson-Davis: "I thought overall I had a pretty solid rookie season. Obviously there's always room for growth. But just going through the ups and downs, embracing the struggle, embracing the success, not getting too high or too low, but just trying to stay even."

On what surprised him about the NBA...

Jackson-Davis: "Obviously the NBA, it's the best players in the world and they're really, really good, but I think what surprised me the most is just the smallest margin of what a player, a superstar, is to another player. It's just, the margin for everyone in that league is so small. Obviously you have the top 20 players, but after that the margin is just relatively even and it's basically who plays harder."

On how he can improve...

Jackson-Davis: "I just think that obviously my body, coming in last year I got hurt and didn't really get a full summer, so I'm really honing in on this summer. I'm working on my body, I'm working on getting stronger, upper body, lower body. Then just doing whatever the coaches need me to do. We just had a discussion up there, so just honing in on some of the parts of my game, being more offensive-minded. Defensively, still bringing pressure, being able to switch, guard guards, stuff of that nature, and I think that all just comes with reps."

On offseason plans...

Jackson-Davis: "I'll be here for most of the offseason. I'll be here, and they have a great plan for me. Probably going to start up here in two or three weeks."

On summer league...

Jackson-Davis: "Yeah, definitely going to play in summer league. And the stuff that I work on in the offseason, translate it to there."

On Klay Thompson's impact on him...

Jackson-Davis: "Klay was great. He gave me my first nickname on the team, Baby T, and that graduated to Trayce Junior. But he was a great teammate. I feel like me and him had a really great chemistry going throughout the yea, and I love being his teammate. I love being able to play with him."

On importance of defending guards and defensive versatility for his future...

Jackson-Davis: "I think it's huge for me. Obviously being able to play small ball five, but being able to switch on guards, especially in late shot clock situations, using my length, altering shots, all that stuff. I feel like even from the beginning of the year until now, I've definitely grown in confidence, just being put in position. Coach trusts me to guard some of these guards, and not always relying and playing roamer a little bit more than guarding just the big. So I just feel like it's going to continue to grow with repetition, but obviously I think I'm starting to get more confident."

On expanding game to mid-range and 3-point shooting...

Jackson-Davis: "Yeah, when we actually talked, coach mentioned [Domantas] Sabonis' name, just the force that he plays with. He feels like with the dribble hand-offs and stuff of that nature, he might attempt one three a game, but that's not necessarily who he is as a player. But it's definitely something I want to expand on. The free throws, I go in at practice and knock them down, so I have to translate that over as well. So I think free throws, then being able to catch and shoot threes, I think that's also something I need to expand on."

On difficulty of matchup against Sabonis in final game...

Jackson-Davis: "I think that just I would say their game plan, they played really physical, really, really physical. They grabbed, they held, and coach said that's what playoff basketball is. So just being able to get a taste of that, obviously we didn't want that outcome to come last night, but they played really well and hats off to them. But yeah, just being able to get some of that experience."