As first reported by TMZ, new Grizzlies forward Josh Jackson has entered a diversion program to settle a misdemeanor charge of resisting arrest. An ESPN report, confirming the TMZ story, indicates that Jackson will have the misdemeanor charge dismissed if he completes the diversion program.
The misdemeanor charge stems from an incident that occurred at a music festival in Florida in May, when Jackson tried to enter the VIP area without a proper pass too many times. He ran away after being handcuffed by police, and was charged with resisting arrest after being re-apprehended. Jackson also initially faced a felony charge of escape, but had it dismissed last month, per ESPN.
The fourth overall pick in the 2017 draft, Jackson essentially became a salary dump this offseason, when the Suns had to attach a pair of second-round picks to him as part of a multi-player trade that sent him to Memphis. Jackson has a troublesome history of off-court incidents and hasn’t developed into an impact player on the court, but he’ll get a chance at a fresh start with the Grizzlies this season.
Unless Jackson looks terrific in training camp and makes a strong impression on the Grizzlies to start the season, I wouldn’t expect the team to pick up his fourth-year option for the 2020/21 campaign. That decision is due at the end of October, and the ’20/21 option would pay Jackson a salary worth $8.93MM.
Here’s more on the Grizzlies:
- Chris Herrington of The Daily Memphian takes an in-depth look at the Andre Iguodala trade market (or lack thereof), exploring what sort of packages teams like the Rockets, Clippers, Nuggets, and Mavericks might be able and willing to offer.
- In Herrington’s view, it’s unlikely that Iguodala or recently-acquired center Dwight Howard ever appear in a regular season game for the Grizzlies. For now, both veterans’ expiring contracts remain on Memphis’ books to maintain flexibility for trades.
- Multiple reports out of Europe earlier this month indicated that Serbian swingman Marko Guduric would be signing a two-year contract with the Grizzlies. There has still been no official word on that front, but Herrington writes that it’s probably safe to assume it will happen at some point.
if a team didn’t want to pay iggy that 18mil ? could they send the griz a pick to buy him out? and then sign him outright?
the Griz will have to pay him??
Don’t think that’s realistic, since it’d be viewed as cap circumvention (there would also be no obligation for Iggy to sign with the team that gave up the pick once he became a free agent).
No
Instead of blaming it all on Jackson why don’t we blame the suns for reducing his playing time and development after a his rookie season
Suns arent exactly a bright organization
Yeah, cause the Suns are the one that had issues at Kansas and that resisted arrest.
Will Dwight Howard be on every team in the league before he retires?
I doubt ‘development’ usually happens league-wide. Other Suns developed… Booker, Mikal, Oubre & Warren, probably due to pre-existing internal resources.