From the time Trayce Jackson-Davis entered the Warriors’ rotation, Steve Kerr saw potential. His fit besides Draymond Green amplified their defense. However, in his second season, he had a reduction in his minutes. For the most part, the arrival of Jimmy Butler forced Kerr to change his tactics. That also led to the Warriors finding some productive supporting players.

Now, Jackson-Davis might have to fight harder than ever to get his spot back. The glimpses were already there. The Warriors sent him to the G-League in March, although it took just one game for him to be recalled. But even after returning, his minutes were limited.

Now, swirling in the Jonathan Kuminga drama, the Warriors are stuck in another conundrum. What will their second unit look like? Mike Loginoff feels a center will suffer the consequences. And because Trayce Jackson-Davis doesn’t shoot, he feels Steve Kerr will opt for his counterpart to play an Al Horford-type role.

“I think that they’re going to play both Horford and QP just for the spacing aspect of things. Like I think I think Al’s going to be there to, you know, play at the end of games as a reliable veteran, but you’re going to end up playing QP, you know, another 15 to 20 a game to kind of play that role of Al Horford because QP, you know, some games he knocks him down, some games he doesn’t, but you know, he’s going to compete,” he said on Locked on Warriors.

Post quickly became one of Kerr’s favorites. The 7-footer rookie shot 40.8% from three, a stat that plays to Kerr’s high spacing system. However, Loginoff isn’t entirely convinced Post has the spot guaranteed. See, while he does provide floor spacing, his defense doesn’t come close to TJD.

But he thinks Post is only a few “feasible” improvements away from guaranteeing his spot over Trayce Jackson-Davis. “I think the biggest threat to Trayce’s minutes is QP improving his foot speed and his ability to make the right read on the defensive end of the floor,” he said on the podcast, comparing Post’s ceiling to that of Brook Lopez.

But these aren’t even the main concerns for Jackson-Davis. It’s his own health that might force Steve Kerr to use him sparingly.

Trayce-Jackson Davis played through pain and aches

From being one of Kerr’s prized weapons to barely seeing the court, Trayce Jackson-Davis didn’t fall out of the rotation because of Post’s emergence. It was linked to his decline on the court. And it was in July when he appeared on 95.7 The Game that Jackson-Davis revealed why that was the case.

“I felt like from last year to this year, something that really struggled was just my body in general. I felt like during the offseason last year, I got hurt. My knees, my body, my body fat, my weight weren’t where they needed to be. And I think that affected me tremendously on the court. I felt like I didn’t have the pop, I didn’t have the bounce that I had my rookie year,” he said on the show.

He suffered a knee injury during the season, requiring him to take some time off. Furthermore, the growing competitive environment contributed to his losing a regular spot in the rotations. However, that’s not the kind of season the 25-year-old is hoping to have for the upcoming season.

Trayce Jackson-Davis has spent the summer working on his conditioning. That includes a lot of running and polishing his technique. The aim is to get back to feeling like he did in his rookie season. If he is able to regain that level of fitness, Jackson-Davis is sure he can help the Warriors “tremendously”. It all matters on how the rest of the Warriors ‘ offseason goes as well. Although linked to Horford and Gary Payton II, they have yet to make those acquisitions.

In case they aren’t able to, that opens the doors for Trayce Jackson-Davis to prove himself once again. Do you think he can crack the Warriors’ rotation this season? Let us know your views in the comments below.