During Jackson's sophomore NBA season, he posted career highs nearly across the board. In his 57 appearances with the Grizzlies, Jackson averaged 17.4 points, 4.6 rebounds, 1.6 blocks and 1.4 assists in 28.5 minutes. The big man also found himself on the NBA's leaderboards, ranking 13th in total blocks (92) and eighth in block percentage (5.0). During the second game of the season, Oct. 25 against the Bulls, Jackson posted his first of three double-doubles, recording 23 points, 11 rebounds, two assists, one steal and one block in 32 minutes. Against the Bucks on Dec. 13, Jackson scored a career-high 43 points in addition to five rebounds, one assist and one block in 29 minutes. On Dec. 29 in a 13-point win over the Hornets, Jackson recorded a career-high 12 rebounds in addition to 14 points and two blocks in 25 minutes. He tied his career-high seven blocks during a win over Denver on Jan. 28, also recording 10 points, two rebounds and one assist in 31 minutes. Jackson also made three appearances in the NBA bubble before suffering a torn meniscus. In those three seeding games, he averaged 25.3 points, 2.7 rebounds, 1.7 blocks and 1.3 steals in 36.7 minutes. Jackson's best overall stretch of the season was 12 games from Dec. 20 through Jan. 12. During those contests, he averaged 20.1 points -- 52.1 FG%, 45.3 3Pt%, 71.8 FT% -- 5.5 rebounds, 2.8 combined blocks-plus-steals and 1.6 assists.

Jackson came out of the NCAA and right into the Grizzlies' starting lineup. The fourth overall pick was successfully able to transfer his athletic skills from Michigan State, recording season stats of 13.8 PPG and 1.4 BPG. He'd also hit 50.6 percent from the field, 70.6 percent from the line, and 35.9 percent from three-point range. Jackson even led all freshmen and finished seventh in the league with a 5.13 Block percentage. He started his habit of filling the scoresheet in his second game by racking up 24 points, seven rebounds, and two blocks. Jackson's first double-double would come on Nov. 12. But everyone eventually took notice at the end of the month when he went off for 36 at Brooklyn. And just to prove that performance wasn't a fluke, 23 of the next 29 matchups would result in him scoring at least 11 points. However, due to a thigh injury, his season was cut short with 23 games to go. Regardless of that setback, Jackson was rewarded for his impressive debut with a place on the first All-Rookie team.