Is Reggie Jackson The Next James Harden?

The comparison is somewhat of a low hanging fruit.

However, the similarities between Reggie Jackson‘s departure from Oklahoma City and James Harden‘s exit out of the Sooner State are overwhelmingly apparent.

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To be more specific, both players spent the majority of their first three NBA seasons serving as OKC’s playmaking dynamo off the bench. Moreover, the duo of former Thunder also had their proverbial “breakout” campaigns during their third, and final, full season in Loud City.

If that’s not enough, both Jackson and Harden played instrumental roles during their last playoff run with the organization; highlighted by their respective “signature” coming out performance — namely, Jackson’s Game 4 explosion against the Memphis Grizzlies to tie the series up at two games apiece last year, and similarly, Harden’s dissection of the San Antonio Spurs during the 2012 Western Conference Finals.

Thereafter, both, Jackson and Harden, failed to agree on a contract extension and were subsequently dealt by the Thunder brass.

But the uncanny similarities between the two stops there.

Harden, unlike Jackson, never verbally requested a trade, nor did he, by all accounts, give the Thunder a string of apathetic perfunctory efforts as an avenue to voice his displeasure.

Harden never burned any bridges, never disrespected the integrity of the game (disregarding his flopping for now); his escape was classy and unassuming.

Jackson’s exit from his personal hell was the polar opposite.

Durant on deadline day: "We felt like everybody wanted to be here except for one guy."
— Royce Young (@royceyoung) February 20, 2015

Professional etiquette aside, Jackson’s game does bare some resemblance to Harden’s. For one, Jackson and Harden are both pick-and-roll maestros capable of bending opposing defenses through deliberate penetration, timely kickouts, and crafty finishes.

Other than that, when comparing the two slithery guards at the same point of their respective careers, Harden was pretty much a superior player in nearly every other facet of the game.

Most notably, Harden was, and is, an efficiency aficionado and an analytical darling who specializes in scoring through the charity stripe and from behind the three-point line.

Conversely, Jackson has yet to experience a season with an above average TS% (true shooting percentage), and struggles to consistently draw fouls as well as deliver from beyond the arc.

While Jackson is a very good finisher around the rim, especially for a point guard, Harden was/is an elite finisher. Additionally, the areas in which Jackson thrives, Harden’s just as prolific, if not better.

Undoubtedly, Harden had his fair share of skeptics when he was initially traded as well; citing his unsustainable rate of getting to the line, and how his scoring efficiency would inevitably plummet when his usage and role concurrently expands. I, for one, shared those sentiments.

But the proof was in pudding — Harden’s per minute and advanced metrics as a member of the Thunder screamed potential superstar. For Jackson, not so much.

Even when the keys to the car was handed to Reggie, as OKC battled through the early season absences of Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant, the long-limbed lead guard’s favorable anecdotal production was marred by his middling inefficiencies on ends of the floor.

That’s not to say Jackson won’t be an extremely vital piece to Detroit’s future, however — his shortcomings are only flagrant in comparison to the league’s leading MVP candidate, in Harden.

In fact, under Pistons’ coach Stan Van Gundy’s spread pick-and-roll system, it would not be out of the realm of possibilities to see Jackson blossom into an all-star caliber guard.

Detroit’s offensive scheme not only perfectly plays into the former Boston College Eagle’s strengths as a floor general and primary playmaker, Jackson is also surrounded by an army of ideal complementary pieces.

Many will surely scoff at the thought of Jackson becoming an All-Star, but when breaking down his game, the good generally outweighs the bad:

THE GOOD

It’s easy to why Jackson so desperately wanted out of OKC; his skills and expertise was over qualified for his role as a bench player.

Explicitly, he inherently possess the one skill modern day initiators must have: the ability to negotiate pick-and-rolls. In fact, Jackson excels at it.

When watching the 24-year-old initiate the offense, the one word that immediately comes to mind is pace.

Jackson, at 6-foot-3, is long, lanky and quick, but the ballhandling wizard rarely exerts all of his athletic gifts in an effort to go full bore towards the rack.

Instead, he’s wise beyond his years, perpetually playing at his own deliberate speed, while protruding the interior areas of the floor with seamless ease.

As a testament to his shrewdness as a pick-and-roll negotiator, Jackson is producing the seventh most points per possession (PPP), among point guards, when serving as the ballhandler in screen-and-roll sets, at 0.91, according to NBA.com.

While working off of a pick, Jackson always finds a way to attack the middle/teeth of the defense. Even against schemes aimed to ice all actions, he uses a wide array of hesitation, change-of-pace, and change-of-direction moves to successfully place his momentum towards invading the paint.

For that reason, Jackson makes his living down the middle of the lane. In fact, approximately 6.2 percent of his shots come from the foul line to the restricted area and over 39.2 percent of field goal attempts are taken within ten feet — it is also worth noting that he converts on an above average rate in both aforementioned areas of the floor, per NBA.com.

He is also patient when the turning the corner, often times keeping his defender on his hip — ala Chris Paul — as he surveys the floor and probes the defense.

Most encouragingly, Jackson has the inborn ability to shift defenses with his penetration and find his open shooters — an ideal fit on a team that houses the likes of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Caron Butler, Jodie Meeks, and Anthony Tolliver.

In fact, Jackson is currently ranked 15th in the NBA in points created through assists per 48 minutes, at 23.4, per NBA.com’s SportVU Data.

Although we only have a two-game sample size to work with, Van Gundy has seemed content on letting Jackson dictate the tempo and pace of the game through his pick-and-roll play. At present, over 73.8 percent of Jackson’s possessions as a Piston involve screen-and-roll action, a drastic increase from the 41.3 percent he was experiencing as a Thunder.

That number will eventually regress back to the mean, but not as profoundly as one would estimate; especially when considering that 53.7 percent and 45.6 percent of D.J. Augustin’s and Brandon Jennings‘ possessions derived off of pick-and-roll opportunities during their respective reigns as Detroit’s lead guard.

Moreover, ever since his change of scenery, Jackson has been attacking the basket with much more vigor. Most notably, he has been taking a higher percentage of his shots from ten feet and in, while concurrently, raising his free throw rate by a significant margin.

For the season, in the 13 games he started as a member of the Oklahoma City Thunder and two as a Piston, Jackson has averaged 20.1 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 7.7 assists per game on 50.8 percent TS% and an individual offensive rating of 107.

Other than his less than ideal scoring efficiency, which will most likely improve considering his surrounding external environment, those are all-star numbers — especially when compared to the Eastern Conference’s crop of point guards; most notably, All-Star starter, Kyle Lowry‘s statistical production. The lone missing ingredient to an All-Star berth is the Twitter support of Kid Rock.

THE BAD

To effectively combat the heightened sophistication of modern day defenses, floor spacing and scoring efficiency is priced at a market premium. Primary playmakers who fail to accomplish neither are usually detrimental to winning basketball.

Jackson, thus far in his early career, has struggled to, both, get to the line on a consistent basis or hit 3s on an average rate.

When compared to the cream of the crop point guards around the association, Jackson’s efficacy as a scorer is repugnantly mundane.

As mentioned earlier, Jackson has the propensity to get into the lane at will; however, he lacks, former teammate, Russell Westbrook’s innate thirst for contact and/or Kyrie Irving‘s mid-air pageantry to draw fouls and earn unimpeded points.

Along the same vein, rarely does Jackson aggressively attack opposing defenses in transition. Alternatively, if his core of shooters are tightly covered and his trailing bigs flounder in their effort to beat their man down the court, Jackson most often opts to pull it out and play in a more controlled environment.

Jackson is naturally a poised lead guard who scoffs at the thought of forcing things. Sure enough, such judiciousness is positively reflected through his low turnover rate.

In turn, however, he sacrifices the opportunity to enjoy easy points. In fact, Jackson ranks within the bottom 25 percentile in PPP while operating in fast and secondary break situations, at 0.90, per NBA.com.

To make matters worse, Jackson has yet to showcase a dependable 3-point stroke.

It is worth noting, though, he is actually a more proficient long range bomber pulling up on the move as oppose to shooting off of the catch; which bodes well for Pistons’ fans considering his role as a ball-in-hand creator.

Conversely, he has struggled mightily this season when spotting up. When watching Jackson, he tends to loft up a slow releasing set shot as a catch-and-shooter rather than using his legs and shooting a classic J.

Defensively, Jackson has, in most part, been quite disinterested this season. However, he has historically been a net positive on that end of floor.

Blessed with elite length for his position with arms hanging around his knees, Jackson has all the physical tools to become a defensive pest, both, on the ball and off the ball.

A fully engaged Jackson, last year, was rated as the 11th best defender among point guards, sporting a Defensive Plus-Minus (DRPM) of 0.66. This season, though, spearheaded by his lackluster effort, Jackson is currently ranked 46th, with DRPM of -1.37, per ESPN.

Not surprisingly, last season, the Thunder’s defense performed slightly better while Jackson was on the floor; and accordingly, this year, OKC’s D was appreciably worse with Reggie manning the point, according to 82games.com.

With that being said, supported by the gargantuan backline of Andre Drummond and Greg Monroe — both of whom are plus defenders this year — a reinvigorated Jackson should pick his defensive play back up during Detroit’s stretch run towards the playoffs.

THE VERDICT

Jackson, much like Harden when he first arrived in Houston, is placed in an ideal situation.

The offense fits his skill set, his teammates complement his play, and his coach has given him the ultimate green light.

So far, in just two games, Jackson has already built a rapport with Drummond in the pick-and-roll game as well as in transition, throwing lobs to the near 300-pound man-beast at every opportunity.

Moreover, Monroe should ease the offensive load on Jackson, especially in the half-court. Currently ranked seventh in post-up usage, expect Monroe to support Jackson accordingly on the block.

While his shortcomings are glaring, they are surely rectifiable; particularly if Jackson continues to attack the tin as effervescently as he has since the trade — averaging 13.0 drives and 9.0 points off of said drives per game since donning the Pistons’ red, white and blue, per NBA.com.

Surely those numbers are unsustainable as his season averages are at 6.7 drives per game and 5.0 points per game off of drives. But, playing under his current capacity, he could conceivably raise those numbers to Westbrook/Harden levels.

On the other hand, Jackson’s reputation may be tarnished for now, but he can easily change the court of public opinion. More specifically, the Pistons are poised to squeak into the playoffs; thereby, giving Jackson the chance, on the NBA’s biggest stage, to finally showcase his full repertoire of talents.

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