Oklahoma City Thunder May Deal Reggie Jackson

The Oklahoma City Thunder could chose to deal with guard Reggie Jackson rather than extend him, much like they did with NBA All-Star James Harden

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If the Oklahoma City Thunder are going to weather the early portion of the season without star forward Kevin Durant, guard Reggie Jackson is going to be a big reason why.

Jackson is developing into an excellent player and showed flashes of how good he can be during the 2014 postseason.

Howver, Jackson’s day in Oklahoma City may be limited. The Thunder won’t be extending him before Friday’s deadline and he will become a restricted free agent in the offseason.

“Part of the issue for the Thunder is that Jackson is a point guard and it doesn’t make a lot of sense to overpay him when Westbrook is already under a multi-year contract,” says Jesse Blancarte of Basketball Insiders. “This is the same problem that forced the Los Angeles Clippers to trade Eric Bledsoe last year for J.J. Redick and Jared Dudley.”

That means they could opt to trade him for a cheaper option.

“Jackson is unlikely to require the same sort of contract that Bledsoe eventually got as a restricted free agent this offseason, but the Thunder, as a small-market team, are especially concerned about maintaining financial flexibility,” Blancarte explains. “But after sending Harden to Houston in 2012, and subsequently failing to win a championship, the Thunder are at risk of sending away another impact player, and raising questions of whether they care more about their bottom line than winning a championship.”

Dealing another player like Jackson could upset the fans and his teammates and with Durant able to become a free agent in 2016, that isn’t something they want to do.

Jackson averaged 13.1 points, 4.1 assists and 3.9 rebounds per game while shooting 44.0% from the field, 33.9% from three and 89.3% from the free throw line during the regular season. He averaged 11.1 points, 3.8 assists and 2.4 rebounds per game while shooting 46.6% from the floor, 39.6% from beyond the arc and 88.6% from the charity stripe in the postseason.

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