Chris Paul played three seasons in Oklahoma City. His first two came as a member of the Hornets before playing for OKC’s permit franchise, the Thunder, in 2019-20. Along with his 17-year NBA career, Paul owns an AAU team where promising young prospects play under the CP3 name. That list includes the 2023 NBA Draft prospect, GG Jackson.
GG Jackson played for Chris Paul’s EYBL team before joining South Carolina this fall. Jackson should be grading High School this week. Instead, he prepares for the NBA Draft with private workouts and interviews after his freshman campaign with the Gamecocks.
The OKC Thunder have many options in the 2023 NBA Draft, but Chris Paul advocates for Sam Presti to select GG Jackson.
GG Jackson held his pro-day in Chicago with his agency on May 17th. Thunder top executive Sam Presti, Nick Collison, and former Thunder guard Chris Paul were in attendance.
Along with them was Rafael Barlowe of Locked on NBA Big Board, who came on the Locked on Thunder Podcast and revealed that Chris Paul walked over to Sam Presti during the pro-day “Chris Paul went over to Sam Presti, and I heard a little bit of the conversation, he had very good things to say about GG so I think even Chris is trying to push Sam to take a chance on GG ..”
Sam Presti has always respected Chris Paul, and those two have an excellent working relationship, so it is no small nugget that Paul is in Presti’s ear. GG Jackson is one of the most polarizing prospects in the 2023 class. Some have concerns about his attitude or bad habits built up by being the big fish in a small pond in South Caroline, but Chris Paul advocating for Jackson could clear up some confusion for Presti off the floor.
GG Jackson could fall to the 20s in this draft, and at that point, the OKC Thunder should consider leaping back into the first round to select the Gamecock. Given the strength of the Thunder’s G-League system, they are one of the few organizations that can ideally develop Jackson without throwing him into the fire and treating this rookie season almost like a redshirt year, mainly playing for the OKC Blue with some spot Thunder minutes to improve.
There is no denying his overall skill, but Jackson is a raw prospect with bad habits to break. However, the organization that selects him and handles him will further determine his future than his own ability. He has all the talent in the world but will need the perfect blend of development to extract that ability.
Listen to the May 29th Locked on Thunder Podcast for the full story.