Justin Jackson signs with Milwaukee

R.L. Bynum,

By R.L. Bynum

The Milwaukee Bucks have signed Justin Jackson to a two-way roster spot.

Jackson, in his fourth NBA season, averaged 7.2 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 33 games for the Oklahoma City Thunder before being released April 5.

Jackson fills the slot left when former Virginia star Mamadi Diakite’s two-way contract was converted to a multi-year deal, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.

Luke Maye, Jackson’s teammate on the 2017 NCAA champion UNC team, was briefly with Milwaukee but got waived in October 2019.

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Jackson didn’t get off the bench in 16 of Oklahoma City’s first 49 games. In his 33 games, he played fewer than 10 minutes in eight of them, played more than 30 minutes twice and started three games.

Jackson has been efficient in several games before his release games, with 15 points in 12 minutes at Phoenix, 12 points in 24 minutes vs. Toronto, nine points in 13 minutes at Minnesota and 15 points in 13 minutes at Houston.

Jackson’s best two nights of the season came in consecutive mid-February games: 20 points and three 3-pointers on Feb. 12 in a loss at Denver and 22 points and four 3-pointers in a home win Feb. 14 against his now current Milwaukee teammates in which he hit the dagger 3-pointer with 14.3 seconds left.

Jackson was the 15th overall pick of the Portland Trail Blazers in the 2017 NBA draft and was dealt on draft day to the Sacramento Kings. He scored a career-high 28 points with five 3-pointers on Jan. 5, 2019, for Sacramento in a 127–123 home loss to Golden State.

Late in his second season with the Kings, they traded him to the Dallas Mavericks, along with Zach Randolph, for Harrison Barnes.

Jackson has collected five 3-pointers in a game twice, the last time March 6, 2019, when he scored 18 points in the Mavericks’ 132–123 loss at Washington.

After two seasons in Dallas, the Mavericks dealt him to Oklahoma City on Nov. 27 along with Trevor Ariza and a 2023 second-round pick.

Published by R.L. Bynum