Isaiah Jackson expected to be out “a while”

The Indiana Pacers had two picks in the first round of the 2021 NBA Draft.

With the first, they took Oregon guard Chris Duarte. He’s instantly become a starter. With Malcolm Brogdon having been sidelined, the Pacers have dropped several games. They’re now 1-4, and their injuries aren’t getting much better.

Per David Woods of the Indy Star, head coach Rick Carlisle announced Thursday that Brogdon would be out in the short term, while Isaiah Jackson, the team’s second first-round pick, will be “out for a while” due to a knee injury.

Jackson, who played last season at Kentucky before going pro after his freshman season, hasn’t been regularly in the rotation for Indiana. He’s averaging just 5.5 minutes per game and 1.5 points per game.

The Pacers should’ve known coming out of Kentucky that Jackson was more of a project than shoo-in starter like Duarte. That said, Jackson did grab down 4 rebounds in his first game of double-figure minutes.

The potential is clearly there, but it’ll be on hold for a little bit.

“He’s walking in a brace, so that’s good news, compared to the severity that there could have been,” Carlisle said.

Jackson should be able to find a rotation spot once healthy again, especially with the number of Pacers missing games.