The Denver Nuggets drafted Maryland men’s basketball forward Justin Jackson in the second round of Thursday’s NBA draft, before trading him to the Orlando Magic for forward Jarred Vanderbilt.
With the Atlanta Hawks selecting guard Kevin Huerter in the first round, Maryland has two draft picks for the second time in three years.
Jackson had a breakout freshman campaign followed by a sophomore year that lasted only 11 games before he underwent season-ending surgery on a torn labrum.
As a freshman in 2016-17, Jackson was second on the team with 10.5 points per game and led the Terps with 6.0 rebounds per game. That production — combined with his 6-foot-7 frame, 7-foot-3 wingspan and 43.8 shooting percentage on 3-pointers — led him to enter the NBA draft without an agent and attend the draft combine in 2017.
He elected to return to college for another season but wasn’t the same player early in his sophomore campaign, making 25 percent of his 3-pointers and shooting just 36.6 percent from the field. Those shooting struggles were later explained in part by a labrum injury that had bothered him since high school but worsened to the point of requiring surgery in late December.
Despite Jackson’s ability to play and guard multiple positions, his injury and sophomore slump hurt his draft stock considerably, causing him to slide to the 43rd overall pick this year.
This is the third time since 2000 that multiple Terps have been selected in the same draft. Center Diamond Stone and forward Jake Layman were second-rounders in 2016, and forward Chris Wilcox, guard Juan Dixon and forward Lonny Baxter were drafted in 2002.
This article has been updated.
