Detroit Pistons stock exchange: Who moved up or down in Pistons 106-86 loss to Sixers

Stock Down

Thon Maker

If Maker is battling for a roster spot someone forgot to tell him. Maker’s miserable preseason continued Tuesday, when he put goose eggs all over the scoreboard, shooting 0-for-8 and ending with two points in 26 minutes. Maker was dominated by Embiid which is not a surprise, but Detroit hoped he might be able to at least make Embiid work on the defensive end or draw him away from the hoop. Neither happened as Maker went 0-for-4 from the 3-point line.

He did have 10 rebounds and five assists, but it was an overall poor performance, especially when juxtaposed against Wood, who has used the preseason to take Maker’s spot in the rotation. Detroit still has hopes that Maker can grow into his potential, but this preseason has done nothing to build confidence.

Going into the season it is difficult to see how Maker gets more than spot minutes in favorable match ups. The Pistons’ gamble on Maker has not yet paid dividends and he may find himself on the end of the bench.

Reggie Jackson

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One of the narratives around the offseason has been “Reggie Jackson is finally healthy!” and “Jackson has lots of bounce!” with some insane people even suggesting the Pistons should re-sign Jackson now in the face of a thin free agent crop at point guard.

After another 1-for-8 shooting night, it’s time to be concerned.

Jackson has been flat out awful in preseason, shooting 28.9 percent on appalling shot selection. It’s not just that Jackson is missing everything, he’s taking terrible, hero ball shots that hopefully remind the “we should re-sign Jackson” crowd that he really isn’t that good and never has been. I’ve never been a fan of Jackson, so when I saw trade rumors involving point guards Frank Ntilikina and Kyle Lowry I got excited thinking we might finally be free from Jackson’s tyranny.

He’s a backup point guard that the Pistons have been featuring as a starter for far too long. If the Pistons can find a suitor for Jackson they would be wise to unload him, even if it means taking a chance on an unproven player (Ntilikina) or taking on an extra year of money (Lowry). The recent trade rumors suggest Casey and the Pistons’ front office may agree.

Hopefully Jackson is just shaking off preseason rust and can put together a few good games to raise his trade value, as right now his stock couldn’t get much lower.

The Jackson era may mercifully be coming to an end in Detroit and I for one can’t wait.