Oklahoma City Thunder: Should Reggie Jackson Start?

Media day can often be pretty bland, with players and coaches answering in cliches, and often not giving much to reporters. With the exceptions of newly grown mustaches or guys not knowing other players on their team, sometimes media day doesn’t provide all that much information for outsiders.

However, Reggie Jackson was adamant during his interview session that we wanted to be a starter for the Oklahoma City Thunder next season.

With Thabo Sefolosha–the starting shooting guard for the Thunder the last five years–gone, the starting shooting guard position is wide open. Jackson is the most skilled option to fill the role and had this to say about potentially starting.

"“I want it. But I’m happy if not. There’s nothing I can do about. I’m just going to go out and find ways to help this team improve and help be the best we can be … I feel strong about it. I want to be the starter.” (via Daily Thunder)"

Jackson’s biggest reason for wanting to start is he is a competitor. He is fierce on the court and it looks he is just as fierce in regards to wanting to be great. Jackson thinks it is hard for players to leave a legacy behind if they are coming off the bench and not starting.

"“That’s just how I feel. The best ones I remember have always been a starter. I can’t recall a super sixth man.” (Via Daily Thunder)"

While Jackson’s logic may be flawed because there have been great players who were primarily role players (see: Ginobli, Manu and Havelick, John), but you can’t fault him. Everyone wants to be a starter. It is part of the competitive edge that has gotten many of these guys to the position they are in today.

There are four potential options for the Thunder to start at shooting guard next season. Jackson, Anthony Morrow, Jeremy Lamb, and Andre Roberson all have a chance to be a starter. Jackson is by far the best player of the group, but it doesn’t necessarily mean he should be the starter.

And I don’t think he should.

For one, Jackson was simply better and more effective coming off the bench last season.

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With Westbrook missing time last year to injury Jackson was able to start 36 games. In those 36 games he averaged 14.1 points per game and 5.1 assists on 42.5 percent shooting from the field and 32 percent from beyond the arc in in 31.2 minutes per game.

In the 44 games he came off the bench Jackson averaged 12.3 points per game and 3.4 assists on 45.6 percent shooting from the field and 35.8 from 3 in 26.2 minutes per game.

In five less minutes per game, Jackson nearly scored as many points and was much more effective in his offensive role off the bench. While plus-minus is not everything, he had a plus-10.4 coming off the bench compared to plus-4.7 as a starter.

When you have a player as good as Jackson coming off the bench it gives the Thunder many options throughout a game.

They can play him with the second unit and let him be the main ball handler and scorer, taking advantage of going up against the other teams second unit and giving Thunder stars, Durant and Westbrook ,a longer breather.

They can sit one of Westbrook or Durant because of foul trouble or fatigue and insert Jackson without seeing much of a drop off.

Even if he comes off the bench, he can still finish the game, which is all that really matters. Having Jackson as a fourth option behind Durant, Westbrook, and Ibaka, makes the Thunder really tough to stop down the stretch of games. This is why Jackson shouldn’t concern himself with starting because he is going to see nearly 30 minutes a game plus help close the game out whether he starts or not.

Plus, Jackson is not nearly as good of a defender as any of the other three options I mentioned above, meaning Westbrook will have to guard the other team’s best guard most of the time, something he rarely did with Sefolosha as the starter. Westbrook needs to conserve all the energy he possibly can for offense and winning time down the stretch. With Jackson as the starter he may have to exert more energy defensively than he would if Roberson or Lamb started.

Having a really good sixth-man has been a winning formula for the Thunder for as long as they have been contenders. It started with James Harden and that torch is nothing Jackson should be ashamed of carrying on.

We often complain about Scott Brooks‘ rotations throughout a game, but having a reserve, who has starter-level talent, is something is accustomed to and comfortable. It may be a sign that maybe he is just not a great coach, but asking Brooks to adjust his game management may cause even more issues.

Again, I get why Jackson would want to be the starter, but as they say, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” This has been working for years and it shouldn’t change to please Jackson.