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Trayce Jackson-Davis Nominated For NBA Dunk of the Year
During his rookie season with the Golden State Warriors, Trayce Jackson-Davis made a highlight-reel dunk over Victor Wembanyama that has been nominated for the NBA Dunk of the Year in 2023-24.
Trayce Jackson-Davis became known for his high-flying dunks at Indiana, and he carried that skill over to the NBA during his rookie season with the Golden State Warriors.
Jackson-Davis has been nominated for 2023-24 NBA Dunk of the Year by NBA.com for his posterizing slam over San Antonio Spurs rookie Victor Wembanyama, the likely Rookie of the Year. He's one of six nominees for the award, along with Anthony Edwards, Isaiah Joe, Andre Jackson Jr., Malik Monk and Shaedon Sharpe.
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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 certainly outperformed that draft slot.
Jackson-Davis' rookie season came to an end on April 16 as the Warriors lost to the Sacramento Kings in the Play-In Tournament. He started the game but finished with just two points and one rebound in 11 minutes of action, as Warriors coach Steve Kerr opted to give Jonathan Kuminga more minutes off the bench.
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.
Golden State Warriors rookie Trayce Jackson-Davis dunks on San Antonio Spurs rookie Victor Wembanyama.
Michael Gonzales/NBAE via Getty Images
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. Though the Warriors' season is over earlier than they would have liked, Jackson-Davis turned out to be a perfect fit. On a team with sharpshooters Steph Curry and Klay Thompson, Jackson-Davis filled an important role as a lob threat in the pick-and-roll game, and he contributed as a rebounded and shot-blocker.
Throughout the season, Jackson-Davis discussed how his experience at Indiana help ease the transition to the NBA.
"Yeah, playing basketball at a high level, playing for something," Jackson-Davis said. "Obviously with me being the leader of my team and always having the opposing team trying to take me away, I've learned how to adjust to that. So the matchups, the scouting reports, all that stuff, I always try to hone in on. Then having coach Woodson, he really helped me look at different things that I can see throughout a game. So I'm trying to apply that to here."
