Suns rookie Josh Jackson welcomes Kawhi Leonard comparison

Phoenix Suns' Josh Jackson shoots in front of Sacramento Kings' Malachi Richardson, right, during the second half of an NBA summer league basketball game, Friday, July 7, 2017, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)

For every promising young rookie who enters the NBA, there’s always some inevitable player comparison slapped on him — fairly or unfairly — by those who have analyzed his skills, style, strengths and weaknesses.

Months before Josh Jackson became the fourth overall pick in the 2017 draft, the 20-year-old small forward’s defensive intensity and offensive potential had some observers equating Jackson’s longterm career path with that of All-Star San Antonio forward Kawhi Leonard.

As it turns out, Jackson welcomes that demanding player analogy.

Appearing on NBA TV’s “The Starters” following a Phoenix Suns win at the the Las Vegas Summer League, Jackson said he, too, would compare his game to Leonard’s, and he hopes to model his career after the 2014 NBA Finals MVP and two-time Defensive Player of the Year.

“The way he just plays both ends of
the floor, defense and offense,”
Jackson said of how he wants to
emulate Leonard. “He’s just a really
good player, and in today’s NBA league
it’s kind of hard to find a guy who
plays so hard on both ends just all
the time.”

Leonard, the 15th overall pick in 2011, wasn’t as touted then as Jackson is now. But the Spurs’ latest franchise player, a two-time member of the All-NBA team, currently finds himself in the running for MVP honors every season after entering the league as a supposed defensive specialist.

“Defense creates offense,” Jackson
said.

A 6-foot-8 small forward, Jackson would like to establish himself as someone who can do that for Phoenix, in Las Vegas. Teaming up with other key members of the Suns’ very young core — such as bigs Dragan Bender (19) and Marquese Chriss (20) — has Jackson locked in months before the real season starts.

“I’m really excited. Especially
playing in summer league with a few
guys who are actually going to be
asked to play major minutes this
year,” Jackson said. “That’s why I
think it’s just really important for
us to come out and take this serious.
It’s actually a lot more important
(for us) than some other teams here,
because, like I said, we are so young
and we’ve got so many guys who are
going to play major minutes for us
this year on the team.”

That means it’s more likely than not Jackson’s fiery side will come out on the court before he leaves Vegas. He told “The Starters” he’s the best trash-talker in this year’s rookie class, but he only utilizes that strategy “here and there, when I want to.”

While he admitted he has taken trash talk a step too far in the heat of battle before, Jackson said the approach can be harnessed to his benefit, too.

“It gets me going. I try to get under
other players’ skin,” he said. “But
mostly it gets me going.”

Among the many topics Jackson dove into, he also touched on why he is wearing a No. 99 jersey for the Suns this summer. When he was a ninth-grader and coming up on the AAU circuit he wore that same unique basketball number on his chest and back.

“That was actually the last number I
wore before I wore 11,” Jackson said,
adding he can’t have the same digits
that donned his Kansas jersey for
Phoenix (guard Brandon Knight
currently wears No. 11).

Through two exhibitions in Vegas, Jackson is averaging a summer league-high 36 minutes a game, while putting up 16.5 points, 8.6 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.0 steals and 1.0 blocks, and shooting .343 from the floor.