INGLEWOOD — When Isaiah Jackson came to the Clippers from the Indiana Pacers in a deadline trade last season, he knew what he wanted and then worked to reach his goal.
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First, Jackson set his sights on returning to the level he had been playing at before suffering a season-ending torn Achillies on Nov. 1, 2024. He was well on his way, averaging 7.5 points on 76.4% shooting to go with 1.2 rebounds in limited minutes last season.
Second, he wanted a chance to be a starter. With the Pacers, the high-energy big man started 45 of 202 games over his six seasons in Indiana, including 14 of 38 games in 2025-26. The job was part-time, but he was making in-roads.
Then came the trade.
Jackson, along with since departed wing Bennedict Mathurin, was a part of the trade that sent center Ivica Zubac to the Pacers. It was a difficult move for Jackson, who suddenly found himself sitting behind Brook Lopez, then-rookie Yanic Konan Niederhauser and John Collins.
He didn’t start in any of the 17 games he played with the Clippers last season.
Not happy to be another rotation piece, Jackson went to work this offseason to make an argument for the starting center job. An argument the 6-foot-8 post player eventually won.
Jackson will start at center when the Clippers open the season on Wednesday night against the Sacramento Kings at the Intuit Dome.
“I think the goal of any player is to be a starter in the NBA,” Jackson said. “I mean, that’s something I feel like you dream about growing up and for the opportunity to present itself. Again, I’m not looking to stray away from it or back down from it.
“I think the work I put in last year, at the end of the year, then this summer is what ultimately gave me that starting role, and I’m looking to take full advantage of the opportunity.”
Although an undersized center at 6-8, Jackson gives the Clippers a quick, strong rim protector, a player who can switch defensively with any player on the court, which could give the team a definite advantage, point guard Darius Garland said.
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“That’s something a lot of bigs don’t really like to do, but he really wants to get out there and switch against some of the top guards in the league and really show his versatility,” Garland said. “He’s super athletic on the boards, can really compete on both sides of the glass, and then as a five-man, since he’s undersized, he can outrun a lot of bigs so he gets a lot of transition buckets that way, a little over-the-top lobs to him, gets some easy buckets.”
Lobs that Garland is hoping happy to provide.
“His speed rolls are really good as well, just getting out of the pick-and-roll pretty quickly, going up for lobs, looking for the pocket pass,” Garland said. “And he’s really good at making decisions out of the bucket pass as well, hitting the back door, hitting a lot for DJ (Derrick Jones Jr.) or Rui (Hachimura), spraying out to the corner pass for 3s on the two-on-one situation.”
Coach Tyronn Lue is confident Jackson can handle the job with his pace, speed and ability to beat other big men down the court, get to the rim and shoot from 3-point range.
“Then his ability to roll and get to the rim and let DG and those guys get downhill and pick and rolls, becoming a lob threat and then also being a kick out for threes,” Lue said.
“We know we’ve got to protect him a little bit against bigger centers that post a lot, but overall I think, like I said, he’s shown that he’s ready for that and we’ll see how it goes.”
Jackson called the journey from missing nearly an entire season to now starting at center for the Clippers “pretty crazy.”
“I think this summer I really had time to sit back and reflect on the year and stuff and talk with my family,” Jackson said. “I actually got to talk about it and it’s been crazy. But like I said, I’m very blessed to be in this position. I’m very blessed to be a Clipper and to be playing basketball at that.
“So, I’m looking for every opportunity and I’m taking it with full understanding.”
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KINGS AT CLIPPERS
When: Wednesday, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Intuit Dome
TV/Radio: KTLA (Ch. 5), Clippervision, 570 AM