by
Reggie Jackson
The Pistons made a mini-splash at today’s NBA trade deadline, performing the dual task of priming for a 2015 playoff run, but also unlocking some major potential for the years to come.
In the more meaningful of two trades Stan Van Gundy made on Thursday, the Pistons will receive scoring point guard Reggie Jackson from Oklahoma City in exchange for D.J. Augustin and Kyle Singler. Jackson is a restricted free agent after this season, meaning the Pistons will have the inside track to re-sign him should they opt to do so.
The second deal involves the Pistons sending their European contingent, Jonas Jerebko and Luigi Datome, to Boston in exchange for Tayshaun Prince. No, you don’t have to get your eyes checked or increase the brightness on your monitor. Tayshaun Prince is going to be a Piston again. It’ll likely be a short stay though, as Prince hits free agency, and more likely, retirement, after this year.
The major piece in all of the wheeling and dealing is Jackson. He’s in his fourth year out of Boston College, and has always appeared ready for a bigger role, one where the ball would be in his hands and he’d be a de-facto leader of the squad. Playing with Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook never really afforded him that opportunity.
He’s been a double-digit scorer (13 PPG) each of the last two years while coming primarily off the bench. There is no doubt that Jackson can put the ball in the bucket, but he is probably what you’d call a “streak shooter.” His career average from deep sits at a less-than-thrilling 29%, though during last year’s 19-game Thunder playoff run, he canned a much more encouraging 40%.
Jackson Rarely Misses a Free Throw
Getting to the bucket and drawing contact is a Jackson specialty, and from the free throw line, he rarely misses. He is a near-automatic 87% charity striper for his career, an invaluable asset when trying to salt away games at the line.
As a point guard with size (6’3”), Jackson should improve the team’s overall defensive effort, which has been their biggest weakness of late. And even though he is just 24 years old, Jackson brings with him solid postseason experience. He’s appeared in 30 playoff games, the best of which came last spring with the Thunder facing a must-win situation on the road against Memphis.
With his team trailing in the series two games to one, Jackson went off for 32 points and nine boards, dominating one of the league’s most stingy defensive units in a 3-point Thunder victory. When OKC finally did bow out in the conference finals against San Antonio, Jackson had become one of the most indispensable players on the team, logging 47 minutes in a Game Six overtime heartbreaker.
So while D.J. Augustin had really stepped up in place of the injured Brandon Jennings, this deal is a win for the Pistons. Jackson has displayed the potential to one day be a very explosive scoring point guard in the league, whereas Augustin has more or less hit his ceiling as a player.
Oh, and Tayshaun is back too, if for no other reason than to give George Blaha a reason to mention the miracle track-down block on Reggie Miller approximately 700 times over the season’s final two months.
Pistons Won This One
Sports logic has always suggested that if you get the best player in any particular trade, you probably won the day. The Pistons can make that claim tonight, and as a result, it no longer requires such a wild imagination to envision a scenario where this team could be a real factor again in the Eastern Conference over the next few years.
There is citywide excitement again regarding our professional basketball team.
After the last half-dozen years of pure and utter boredom, that’s plenty good enough for now.
