Detroit Pistons' point guard Reggie Jackson made a smart move when he rejected a four-year, $48 million offer from the Oklahoma City Thunder. The 25-year-old got a lot more money from the Pistons on Sunday.
The restricted free agent agreed to a five-year, $80 million extension with Detroit, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. The deal has no team or player options, sources told Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com.
Detroit has yet to confirm the deal, but Jackson was outspoken on Twitter last night.
THANK YOU @Pistons organization. Looking forward to the next 5 yrs of my life #beyondblessed #glorytogod #haveahome #DeeetroitBasketballl
— Reggie Jackson (@Reggie_Jackson) July 6, 2015
Under head coach and president of basketball operations Stan Van Gundy, the Pistons are set on rebuilding their team this offseason. Despite losing big man Greg Monroe to the Milwaukee Bucks last week, the team signed Aron Baynes away from the San Antonio Spurs on a three-year, $20 million deal and acquired Marcus Morris, Reggie Bullock, Danny Granger and Ersan Ilysova in a couple of trades.
Jackson was acquired from the Oklahoma City Thunder at the trade deadline last season and the move has proven to be worthwhile.
Van Gundy will now be tasked with finding playing time for both Jackson and fellow point guard Brandon Jennings. Detroit has Jennings under contract for the 2015-2016 season, as he continues to recover from a ruptured Achilles tendon he suffered in the middle of this past season. Before he went down, the 25-year-old was averaging 15.4 points, 6.6 assists, 2.5 rebounds and 1.1 steals per game.
Jackson filled the void nicely in 27 games with Detroit and averaged 19.7 points, 10.3 assists, 5.2 rebounds and 0.8 steals per game.
The Pistons will have a young backcourt next season With Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and first-round draft pick Stanley Johnson in the mix as well.
Jackson's deal is said to be the largest in Pistons' history, but he'll have to wait until Thursday to officially sign the contract .
