Detroit Pistons: Frank Jackson set to shoot down NBA critics

The Detroit Pistons are officially general manager Troy Weaver’s team.

After trading former first round pick Sekou Doumbouya earlier this month to the Brooklyn Nets, everyone on the roster has been brought in by Weaver.

So, who will rise, who will fall as the rotation begins to take shape over the next few weeks? Training camp kicks off on September 28th, with the preseason shortly behind.

Today, I’m taking a look at shooting guard Frank Jackson, who was signed to a two-way contract back in December 2020 and worked his way into the rotation and has a solidified roster spot.

I admittedly wasn’t a Jackson fan when he first arrived in Detroit. He was so-so with the New Orleans Pelicans for the better part of three seasons, and, with a logjam at the guard position, I didn’t see him having much of a role.

He earned that role by improving his three-point shooting, upping his career average from the low 30-percent range to 40.7 percent last season, and he pushed Dennis Smith Jr. out of the way in the process.

That said, even with Smith gone, a guard logjam still exists.

Detroit Pistons: Frank Jackson has a role as a shooter

The Pistons drafted Oklahoma State star Cade Cunningham, brought back Cory Joseph, Hamidou Diallo and they still have Killian Hayes on the team. Add Saben Lee and Rodney McGruder and you have…the logjam. So what gives?

Well, Jackson has a role and I’m excited for it: shoot the ball. Guys like Hayes, Cunningham, Lee and Joseph are crafty in their ability to create, and guess who will be waiting for the ball?

Jackson, and kudos to him for making himself a target.

He put the work in over the past few years to improve his shooting and worked his way to a guaranteed roster spot. Last season he was third on the team in three-point percentage, only behind the departed Wayne Ellington and the rarely-used McGruder.

Well, Ellington isn’t with the organization anymore and I don’t want to be a downer, but McGruder is on the team for locker-room presence and his role day-in and day-out during practice. That’s a vital role, too, but it isn’t the role for Jackson, an up-and-coming shooter in the league who’s still only 23 years old.

Jackson will soak up the Ellington role to a lesser degree because of the logjam depth at the position (woo, Cunningham here), but it’s an important role because Detroit was near the bottom of the league in team three-point percentage at 35.1 percent last season.

“Hayes to Jackson, Cunningham to Jackson, Lee to Jackson…for three'” You’ll hear it a lot this season, and not because there are two Jackson’s on the roster.