Detroit Pistons: Analyzing Reggie Jackson’s New Contract

On Monday afternoon, the Detroit Pistons and Reggie Jackson made their new long-term pairing official in the form a press conference in Auburn Hills, Mich.

Via DetroitPistons.com:

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"“We’re pleased to have reached an agreement with Reggie Jackson that will keep him with the organization for multiple years,” said Stan Van Gundy, Head Coach and President of Basketball Operations for the Detroit Pistons.  “Reggie is a team-first type player who developed great chemistry with our core players following his midseason acquisition.  We feel he has a tremendous future ahead of him and he’ll be a major contributor to our team moving forward.”"

The deal and the terms were originally announced at the beginning of July by Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports.

For Jackson, his hopes were to sink some roots in long-term somewhere, and establish a team as his own. That dream started to materialize when he was traded to Detroit form the Oklahoma City Thunder prior to last seasons NBA trade deadline. Once he arrived in the Motor City, it appeared that he would get the deal he was hoping for from the Pistons organization.

Jackson averaged 17 points and nine assists in Detroit with a 51.1 true shooting percentage and a 19.0 player efficiency rating. He did however struggle on defense, and his turnover percentage jumped from 12 to 17 percent.

Those numbers, coupled with his numbers while starting in place of Russell Westbrook in OKC, make you wonder if he is really capable of being the face of the Pistons franchise — which ultimately makes his contract a gamble. No matter how you look at it, the price seems rather steep for Detroit considering there was very little interest from other teams.

So why did the Pistons essentially bid against themselves? The answer may have something to do with Greg Monroe. Last summer the Detroit Pistons offered Monroe a deal that he eventually turned down, putting a large amount of confidence in himself as he set out to obtain a larger deal the following year.

It ended up paying off in a big way for Monroe as he recently signed a max deal with the Milwaukee Bucks. Current Pistons head coach Stan Van Gundy may not have been around last year during the negotiations involving Monroe, however he still didn’t want a similar situation to take place with Jackson this season.

It’s understandable the Pistons didn’t want to lose Jackson in the same manner they lost Monroe. If a max contract was the only way to prevent that from happening, it’s apparently a price the Pistons were willing to pay.

Next: Will the Pistons Attempt to Trade Brandon Jennings?

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