The Detroit Pistons have officially shut down Reggie Jackson for the remainder of the regular season, coach Stan Van Gundy told reporters on Thursday. Jackson hasn’t played since March 24, and unless guards Ish Smith and Beno Udrih get injured, he will continue to sit.
From mlive.com’s Aaron McMann:
“He won’t play these last four games,” Van Gundy said. “The plan was to sort of let him step away and clear his mind and go into the offseason without a bad taste in his mouth.”
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“Reggie was struggling, and for good reason,” Van Gundy said. “(There was) a lot of stuff out of his control, and it was weighing on him. We thought at that time sort of being fresh-minded would not only be good for him, but being fresh-minded would help us.”
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“We’ll try to encourage him to take a little bit of a different approach to the offseason,” Van Gundy said. “He puts in a lot of time and work in the offseason, and I appreciate that, but we will try to get him to change the way he does it a little bit.”
After the Pistons lost a crucial game in Brooklyn on March 20, Van Gundy moved Jackson to the bench, putting Ish Smith in the starting lineup. Detroit was then blown out in Chicago and Orlando, and Jackson hasn’t logged a single minute since then.
This has been a trying season for Jackson, who missed the first 21 games because of knee tendinitis. When he came back, his explosiveness wasn’t there, he had to adjust to a new offense and his numbers were poor. Jackson has had some solid stretches since then -- he averaged 19.6 points and 5.8 assists while shooting 46.4 percent and 44.9 percent from 3-point range in January -- but he could not sustain that rhythm. Now his future with the team could be up in the air.
Jackson, previously believed to be a franchise cornerstone alongside center Andre Drummond, has three years and $51.1 million left on his contract. His name popped up in trade rumors before February’s deadline, and while it seems crazy to move him when his value is lower than it has been in some time, perhaps the Pistons will be able to find a deal that makes sense.
If he stays, though, it’s not difficult to envision a bounceback year for both Jackson and the team. At 35-43 and all but officially eliminated from playoff contention, Detroit has vastly underperformed relative to expectations. Last season, while its offense -- based on Jackson and Drummond running pick-and-rolls over and over again -- was predictable, it ranked 15th in the league in points per 100 possessions. This season, the Pistons are 26th in that category, and their 10th-ranked defense (which was No. 5 when Jackson made his debut in early December) has not been enough to make up for it. There’s more than enough talent here to make the playoffs, and Jackson has proven he’s better than he showed this season.
