Our player preview series on the 2027 Clippers continues with big man Isaiah Jackson.
Basic Information
Height: 6’8
Weight: 220 pounds
Position: Center
Age: 24
Years in NBA: 5
Stats (for Clippers): 7.5 points, 4.6 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 1.2 blocks, and 0.6 steals in 15.9 minutes per game across 17 games played (0 starts) on 76.4/54.8 shooting splits (0.1 3PA, 1.8 FTA) with 74.1% TS
Contract Status: In the second year of a 3 year, $21M deal, making $7M this season
Expectations
Isaiah Jackson is coming in with the expectation to be a solid contributor to the Clippers’ rotation this year. Vague expectations, to be sure, but that’s the nature of the Clippers’ center rotation. It’s unknown if Jackson will start or come off the bench to begin the season, as he and Brook Lopez are battling for the starting role with Yanic Konan Niederhauser out for the opening of the season. It’s also not clear if Yanic will immediately seize the starting (or even a rotation) role when he returns, or if the Clippers will defer to the veterans as long as they’re on the team. Thus, it’s possible Jackson starts much of the season, comes off the bench for some or all of it, or is out of the rotation once Yanic comes back. I’d guess that just due to Yanic’s injury and Brook’s age IJax will play a good amount this season, but we will see.
Strengths
Isaiah is an excellent rim-running big man on offense. He shot 73.8% at the rim last year and 79.5% on those shots in his last full season in Indiana in 2024. Now fully recovered from the Achilles tear he suffered early in the 2025 season, I would expect him to have even more bounce this year and for those shooting percentages to increase. He’s bouncy, coordinated, and has good hands catching the ball, all recipes for lob dunks and finishes in traffic. The lack of height can be a deterrent, but Jackson will definitely provide a vertical, above-the-rim finishing threat this season that the Clippers have missed at times in the past few years in their non-Zu big men.
I think the biggest positive about Isaiah Jackson is the energy he plays with. He’s always hustling, always moving fast, and does not give up on plays. As with all NBA players, that energy does not always go in the correct direction or for the right positioning, but the difference in speed between him and Brook Lopez in tracking down loose balls and general movement is so huge that it’s immensely refreshing. He’s a plus athlete by NBA standards and uses those tools for offensive finishing, defensive tracking, and hustle plays. To sum, I think he’s just kind of fun to watch!
Weaknesses
Listed at 6’8 and with a weight somewhere in the 210s-220s, IJax is significantly undersized for the center position. He makes up for that lack of size with athleticism and energy, but he’s still a below-average rebounder for a starting big man and can get pushed around by larger centers. A decent shotblocker, nobody will mistake him for Rudy Gobert as a rim protector, and there are just limitations to how good your defense and rebounding can be with him manning the middle.
While Jackson is a capable offensive player, he’s very limited on that end. He can’t shoot from deep at all (7-37 from three across 5 NBA seasons), is a poor free throw shooter (66.6% NBA career), and is not a real passing/playmaking threat (0.8 assist average). He’s exclusively a play-finisher, and those shots are coming primarily at the rim or maybe from floater range. There’s nothing wrong with that, per se – most of NBA big men throughout the history of the league have operated similarly – but in today’s NBA the more shooting, playmaking, and creation you can have on the floor the better. Isaiah won’t be asked to do any of that, and that’s fine, but it is a weakness, especially considering the Clippers’ dearth of advantage-creators on offense.
Summary
Jackson will presumably get an opportunity to play consistent minutes this season, and I expect that he’ll play pretty well, as he generally has in the NBA when he’s been healthy. Still just 24 years old (turns 25 in January), he’s someone that could be a longer-term member of the Clippers, even if it’s just as a backup center behind (hopefully) Yanic Konan Niederhauser. There’s not much upside, and Jackson’s lack of height gives him certain inherent weaknesses, but he seems like a nice player to have around if his play returns to that of his Clippers’ stint last year or last full season with the Pacers in 2024. It’s not the most important roster spot to have figured out, but the Clippers could have their backup center of the future on the roster, and as we saw in the 213 era, not having a good backup big man can be deadly. Maybe IJax can remedy that moving forward.