Philadelphia 76ers: Keep an eye on Reggie “Mr. June” Jackson
How much can $2,331,593 buy you in the NBA?
Well, if you’re the Philadelphia 76ers, it’s worth roughly one Furkan Kormaz and one Paul Reed, or a three-man contractual package comprised of Reed, Isaiah Joe, and Anthony Tolliver. It’s roughly $150k less than the first year of Tyrese Maxey’s rookie contract, $380k less than the second year of Matisse Thyulle’s deal, and a whopping $2.67 million less than Mike Scott, who effectively announced that we won’t be back with the team on Instagram this fall.
But league-wide, what else can that seemingly random financial sum net you? Well, it’s not enough to land you Landry Shamet, who makes $57,693 more, but it could get you a gently used E’Twaun Moore, Markieff Morris, or the contract of Robert Williams III with roughly $10k to spare.
Or, if you’re the Los Angeles Clippers, it can buy you a 6-foot-2, 208-pound combo guard who is averaging 18.1 points per game and the coveted nickname of “Mr. June.”
That’s right, after being bought out of his contract with the Detroit Pistons back in the spring of 2020, Reggie Jackson has made a little under $3 million to spend a season and a half with the Clippers both under Doc Rivers and now Ty Lue, and has suddenly become the team’s second player after losing Kawhi Leonard to a knee injury midway through the team’s series versus Utah.
Could Jackson be back with the Clippers next season? Most definitely, the team has his Early Bird Rights and can thus exceed the cap to sign him, but if Lawrence Frank falters even a little bit and Jackson’s camp is allowed to solicit outside offers, the Philadelphia 76ers should be very interested in the prospects of bringing him back to the East Coast for the first time since his college tenure at Boston College back in 2011.
The Philadelphia 76ers might just be in the market for a new PG this summer.
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It’s no secret that the Philadelphia 76ers will surely be returning a very different roster when they return to the Wells Fargo Center this fall.
Regardless of whether Daryl Morey goes all-in on executing a “Godfather” trade that moves around a half dozen pieces or simply focuses on re-tooling on the fringes with better-fitting role players, the Sixers only have 11 players under contract heading into the 2021-22 NBA season and thus will have at least a few new faces coming into camp even if they re-sign all of their impending free agents save Mike Scott and Anthony Tolliver.
Could they be in the market for another point guard? As things presently stand, probably not. I mean they have Ben Simmons, Tyrese Maxey, Shake Milton, and George Hill under contract through at least the 2022 season assuming they pick up the latter’s option, why waste valuable financial capital on a fifth point guard?
But, and just hear me out for a second, what if one, two, three or even all four of those players aren’t on the team come opening night? What if the Sixers opt to trade Hill and their first-round pick for a quality player in the $8-12 million range? Or if they execute a sign-and-trade with Milton going out (more on that here). No matter what some may think, it would be incredibly hard to land a legit superstar guard like Damion Lillard or Bradley Beal without giving back up both Simmons and Maxey plus picks.
If that happens? Then, my friends, a player like Jackson could becoming incredibly intriguing either via a sign-and-trade or for the price of the team’s mid-level exception, as he’d be an intriguing auxiliary option paired up with Joel Embiid.
Dating all the way back to his time with the Detroit Pistons, Jackson is a legitimate threat in the pick and roll when paired up with an offensively dominant screen setter. He makes good decisions with the ball in his hands, as evidenced by his 1.9 turnovers per game average over a 628 game sample size, and is a threat to get his own shot from anywhere on the court.
But wait, it gets better. Since arriving in LA, Jackon has rediscovered the off-the-ball offensive potency that made him such a threat with the OKC Thunder early in his career, knocking down 42.9 percent of his shots from beyond the arc on 4.1 attempts while serving as a spot-up shooter on the wings when Paul George is running the show.
Jackson could play alongside any of the Sixers’ current guards whether technically tagged a one or two, and has the sort of two-way game to remain in the game in the waiting moments of a playoff contest. You want someone to spell Seth Curry as a spot-up shooter with off-ball movement skills? Jackson is your guy. How about a grizzled floor general who can call the game from the court? Jackson can do that too, even if his 4.2 assists per game career average leaves a bit to be desired for a primary facilitator.
If Jackson is your first guard coming off the bench, chances are you’re a really good team.
Next. What is Shake Milton’s trade value?. dark
As things presently stand, the Philadelphia 76ers don’t need another point guard, especially one who isn’t a superstar. If their roster remains largely copasetic, investing their mid-level exception on a 3 point shooting big man like Doug McDermott or Bobby Portis would be a far better allocation of the team’s resources, as it was arguably their biggest deficiency in the 2021 postseason. But if, for whatever reason, the Philadelphia 76ers find themselves with a few less point guards or a need for a proven veteran starter to pair up with a super-scorer from the two, the idea of landing Reggie Jackson becomes incredibly intriguing. If you get the chance, watch the Los Angeles Clippers while you still can and keep a close eye on number 1.