Is Reggie Jackson bad for the Detroit Pistons?

Reggie Jackson, since being traded to the Detroit Pistons has had his ups and downs. But is he necessarily a bad thing for the Pistons long term?

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After a trade that sent the Oklahoma City Thunder’s backup point guard to the Detroit Pistons, Reggie Jackson finally found what he was looking for since being drafted four seasons ago- a starting role. Since then, Jackson has been putting up impressive statistics and trying to find his role on his new team. But according to the Basketball Insider’s NBA writer, Susan Bible, Jackson might be the worst thing for the Pistons.

The Pistons did lose 10 straight games after the acquisition of Jackson, and are just 3-11 since the trade. But this can hardly be blamed totally on Jackson. The Pistons are playing without Brandon Jennings, arguably their best player. I know that Jackson is supposed to be Jennings replacement after he was shut down following a torn achilles on January 24th. But even with Jennings the Pistons were 17-27. Hardly a respectable record.

Jackson can be a Rajon Rondo type point guard for the Pistons, even when Brandon Jennings comes back from injury.

Bible also brings up a solid point about how Jackson has turned the ball over with the Pistons way too much. But Jackson just joined a new team that has been struggling to score. He was put in an unfair and unfamiliar situation. At OKC, he was hardly required to be the driving force on offense, the Thunder just had more options than the Pistons do. So he went kind of turnover crazy but he will settle in and take more care of the ball as he gets more comfortable with the new offense and teammates.

These things just take time.

We saw a flash of it during Detroit’s win over the Chicago Bulls last Saturday (1 turnover) and this number will only decrease as time goes on.

Jackson is also not the best three point shooter in the world. He has a career 3-point percentage of just 28%, a pretty sub-par stat at best. But this isn’t Jackson’s strong suit, and he knows it. A successful point guard in the NBA doesn’t have to shoot the living day-lights out of the ball from beyond the arc. They need to be able to get their teammates involved, score a decent amount, and occasionally knock down the open jumper. Jackson has been doing all of this of late, especially getting his teammates the ball. He is averaging 8.1 assists per game, which is good for fourth in the NBA this season if we were to erase his days with the Thunder. Jackson can be a Rajon Rondo type point guard for the Pistons, even when Brandon Jennings comes back from injury.

If there is one coach who can channel Jackson’s attitude and turn it into something positive for the Pistons it is definitely Van Gundy.

Another thing that Bible brings up is how Reggie Jackson has openly said that he wants to be considered one of the greatest of all time. This shows that Jackson is more concerned with individual goals over team-oriented success, but is this necessarily a bad thing?

The Pistons are led by coach Steve Van Gundy — coach notoriously known for his no-nonsense coaching style and high expectations for all his players. If there is one coach who can channel Jackson’s attitude and turn it into something positive for the Pistons it is definitely Van Gundy.

After all, he did it in Orlando. He controlled the giant ego of Dwight Howard and led the Magic to a NBA finals appearance and one Eastern conference finals. Something that the Houston Rockets have yet to accomplish.

A good coach always adjusts his style to his players and gets the most out of them. This is exactly what Van Gundy will do with Jackson. His problems on and off the court are sure to be short lived as he starts to mature as a player and person in the coming years. He is still just 24 years old. Give the guy a break.

The only real problem involving Jackson is what to do with Brandon Jennings once he returns to the lineup. But is there any reason why Detroit can’t run a two guard offense with Jennings as the swing man? It is obviously a disadvantage on the defensive side of the ball, but Jackson could physically match up (6’3m 210) with just about any shooting guard in the NBA, leaving Jennings to guard the opposing point guard, as he would have done anyways.

Susan Bible was spot on with one thing though — the last thing Detroit needs is another Josh Smith type of a situation. His cancerous style of play and attitude in the locker room absolutely destroyed any hopes Detroit had of making the playoffs this year.

But Reggie Jackson is still young, and something tells me he is a little bit different than Josh Smith. With a little direction from Van Gundy and roster adjustments from Brandon Jennings, this point guard could end up being an exciting thing for the Detroit Pistons moving forward.

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