Welcome to our Sixers player preview series! Between now and Sixers Media Day on Sep. 30, we will preview each one of the 14 players on the team's standard roster, posing two critical questions that will help determine their fate in 2024-25 before making a prediction about the player's season to come.
Next up is veteran point guard Reggie Jackson, who agreed to a one-year deal with the Sixers for the veteran's minimum in late July.
Sixers player previews
Can the Sixers alter Jackson's decision-making to fit their personnel?
Jackson remains a scoring threat, particularly utilizing his ability to score on tough shots that many players would not be able to convert. Whether it be end-of-shot-clock isolations that he frequents or long, contested two-point jumpers, Jackson seems to be at his most comfortable when operating under less-than-ideal conditions. This has long been his style, and the Sixers surely knew that when they elected to bring him in.
But now, Jackson joins a team that features a trio of ball-dominant All-Stars — Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and Paul George — who all are best surrounded by players who can fill gaps without needing the ball in their hands consistently. When Jackson does end up in Sixers head coach Nick Nurse's rotation, it would likely be as Maxey's backup — though lineups featuring both guards are certainly feasible, as Nurse likes units with multiple ball-handlers — but he would certainly be sharing the floor with at least one of George and Embiid in the vast majority of his minutes.
In those situations, Jackson will not be worth playing if he falls into old habits of dominating the ball and forcing difficult shots. Jackson is better than most at scoring when taking bad shots, but those are still bad shots — and bad shots are a whole lot worse when players like Embiid and George are on the floor.
So, in order to get the most out of Jackson based on the makeup of their roster, the Sixers will need the veteran guard to change some of the fundamentals of his on-court persona. Some players are capable of doing that; some only show flashes of it but inevitably resort to their prior ways. The path Jackson takes will determine his on-court value for a Sixers team featuring three star scorers.
Will Jackson be able to hang defensively?
On paper, Jackson should not be anything close to a significant minus on the defensive end. His 7-foot wingspan is absurd for a 6-foot-2 point guard, and should enable him to frequently make disruptive plays like this:
But film and numbers agree that Jackson has largely been a noteworthy negative on that end of the floor for several years. Now, the 2024-25 Sixers could very well offer a better defensive infrastructure than any Jackson has ever been surrounded by, particularly with Embiid protecting the rim and multiple versatile, high-caliber perimeter defenders also present.
Jackson will be 35 years old at the start of the playoffs, though — not only is this not an age where players tend to improve as defenders, but the aging process could also continue to damage his effectiveness as a scorer. As a player's offensive value decreases, their lack of defensive production becomes considerably more problematic.
If Jackson wants to ultimately solidify himself as a rotation regular for Nurse the way he was with the Denver Nuggets last year — Jackson appeared in all 82 regular season games in 2023-24 — proving he is not a clear weak link on the defensive end of the floor would go a long way.
Prediction
- MORE REGGIE JACKSON
- 5 Sixers thoughts: Reggie Jackson eager to help Sixers in pursuit of championship
- Sixers film study: What does Reggie Jackson bring to the table?
Reggie Jackson fails to become a rotation fixture by the end of the regular season, but contributes enough to justify his minimum contract.
Because of Jackson's defensive track record and questionable offensive fit alongside the Sixers' key players, I struggle to imagine a world in which he becomes a regular rotation player for more than a brief stretch of games at a time without some sort of significant injury occurring.
With Maxey locked in for plenty of minutes — it is a safe bet he will lead the team in total minutes in 2024-25 — and veteran Kyle Lowry possibly serving as Nurse's sixth man, it will not be easy for Jackson to assert himself as worthy of minutes on a nightly basis. Even while acknowledging Nurse's affinity for utilizing lineups featuring multiple orchestrators, there are only so many minutes that can be given to point guards.
Barring a severe injury to Maxey or Lowry, it is going to be a major uphill battle for Jackson to become someone who is entrusted with regular playing time. But if he can come in and change the pace or shake things up once in a while, serve as the sort of positive locker room presence he has been known as in recent years and be a perfectly acceptable third-string point guard, nobody should have any qualms with the Sixers inking him to a minimum deal. To me, that feels like the probable outcome.
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