Reggie Jackson is in desperate need of a comeback after a disappointing season due to knee tendinitis that cost him 20 games this past campaign for the Detroit Pistons.
It doesn’t matter if you like Reggie Jackson or not. We all know the Detroit Pistons missed the playoffs this season perhaps in large part due to Jackson’s injury, but it’s too easy for fans to forget the impact Jackson had in the 2015-16 season. He was phenomenal.
Jackson controlled the tempo of the offense in the 2015-16 season. More times than not when he wasn’t having his night the Pistons lost. Jackson had a 28.8 usage and started all 79 games he played in that season. He averaged 18.8 points and 6.2 assists per game that season.
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Jackson played his best basketball with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Andre Drummond, Stanley Johnson, and Marcus Morris. This five-man lineup had a +10.4 net rating with almost 80 minutes and 173 possessions played together. The next season Jackson didn’t play one single minute with this lineup. We can only speculate whether Jackson would have had a good season if he was put into this lineup that he excelled at the year before. Coach Stan Van Gundy needs to look at who he plays best with this next season.
Jackson was the missing piece of the puzzle that the Pistons could not find in the 2016-17 season. He just wasn’t there this season. He didn’t have the crazy stats like he had the season before. Jackson had a usage percentage of 26.4 and averaged 27.4 minutes a game. On top of that, he averaged 14.5 points and 5.2 assists per game.
So what does this actually mean? Jackson only played 52 games just last season. Considering he was put in the starting lineup right away should say something in itself. If I were the coach I would have done the same thing because of how remarkable he was the season before. Jackson got put in a bad position and it was quite obvious toward the end of the season.
It was a common sentiment among Piston fans to want Jackson moved at the deadline because of his play and because the Pistons just weren’t winning basketball games. In 2015 most fans thought Jackson deserved that five-year $80 million dollar contract. Now everybody is having second thoughts.
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Jackson deserves a second chance next season. Most NBA players would have a bad year due to injury especially if they went through the same obstacles Jackson suffered through. It would be a heck of a story for Detroit Pistons fans if Jackson is able to replicate his 2015-16 season for next season.