Detroit Pistons: Should Reggie Jackson come off the bench?

Detroit Pistons point guard Reggie Jackson is currently one-third the team’s “Big 3,” but it might be better for everyone if he was the sixth man.

The first week of the NBA season is a minefield of overreactions and personnel proposals by fans and media that could use a heavy dose of patience.

For the Detroit Pistons, who are 2-0 going into Tuesday’s home game against the Philadelphia 76ers, the responses have been more positive than negative. This group looks better than last season’s lottery team and appears to be headed in the right direction under first-year head coach Dwane Casey.

Blake Griffin is putting up MVP-caliber numbers (29.5 points, 10.0 rebounds, 5.5 assists per game) and Andre Drummond has already had a 20-rebound game.

One idea that has been pitched among the fanbase that smells like an overreaction is that the third member of Detroit’s “Big 3” — starting point guard Reggie Jackson — should be benched in favor of Ish Smith.

There’s an old football adage that applies here: The most popular man in town is the backup quarterback.

Jackson has been injury-prone and often made a scapegoat for the Pistons’ lack of success in recent years, while Smith has the qualities that make for the typical fan favorite floor general. He’s short, he’s fast and he’s fearless.

Through two games, Smith is averaging 13.0 points and 4.0 assists while shooting 50 percent from the field. Last Saturday, Smith made the game-winning bucket as Detroit edged the Chicago Bulls.

Jackson’s bulk stats have been better — he’s averaging 18.5 points and 5.0 assists per game — but he’s shooting just 37 percent from the field. His shot selection and decision-making has aggravated a lot of Pistons fans for years, and that hasn’t changed in 2018-19.

Thanks to Casey’s guard-heavy lineups, Jackson and Smith have actually shared the court for stretches this season. Smith will play point guard, while Jackson plays off the ball.

This isn’t an either-or situation where only one of them can play at a time, but someone has to be the team’s official starting point guard.

There’s a good argument that Smith should be the one, and it’s not necessarily a knock on Jackson.

It may make sense for Smith to start over Jackson because the Pistons could use Jackson as the lead scorer on their second unit.

If you look around the league at the top Sixth Man of the Year candidates, they are often volume-scoring guards who excel at generating instant offense. Eric Gordon, Lou Williams, Terry Rozier and Jamal Crawford come to mind.

The Pistons don’t have that kind of player on their bench.

Luke Kennard and Glenn Robinson III have been cast as more of the spot-up shooting types. Sixty-four percent of Langston Galloway‘s shot attempts last season were 3-pointers.

Jackson is someone who creates shots off the dribble and aggressively attacks defenses. He might even be more in his element as the No. 1 guy on the second unit vs. being the No. 3 guy behind Griffin and Drummond with the starting lineup.

Depth and a variety of lineups are needed for a team to thrive in today’s NBA. A top-heavy roster that experiences a significant drop-off when a couple of key starters are out of the game can be problematic for even the most talented teams.

The Cleveland Cavaliers during the most recent LeBron James era were a good example.

When LeBron delivered his now-infamous “We need a (expletive) playmaker” line, it was during a time when the Cavs were struggling mightily just to score whenever LeBron and Kyrie Irving weren’t on the court.

On the flip side would be the San Antonio Spurs during their “Big 3” era.

Manu Ginobili was widely recognized as the second- or third-best player on the Spurs during his prime, but he more often than not came off the bench and shined in the sixth man role. The Spurs, not coincidentally, became a modern-day dynasty.

The Pistons could follow that San Antonio model, to an extent. This would be the right time to try it, as this is the best part of the season in which to experiment.

Jackson can still be part of the “Big 3” with All-Star front liners Griffin and Drummond, but it might be worth a try to give one of those three a new role.