Thunder Trades: Should OKC Move Reggie Jackson?

NBA fans are an impatient lot.

Dion Waiters had been in Oklahoma City for approximately 0.00005 seconds before fans immediately started wondering if this meant that Reggie Jackson was now expendable. Given the Thunder organization’s track record of moving players before free agency (*cough*James Harden*cough*), this question didn’t seem too far off base. As Sam Livingston alluded to here, Waiters is a known playmaker off the dribble, able to get to the rim, and provides a good enough jumper to keep defenses honest. This, not so coincidentally, is also a very clear overlap of Jackson’s skills.

With this in mind, does that mean there is another move on the horizon for the Thunder? Information has already leaked that Oklahoma City was discussing trades outside of the aforementioned Waiters deal. As Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN-New York reported, the Thunder were briefly engaged in talks to obtain Brook Lopez.

Ultimately, the talks fell through and Oklahoma City instead opted to upgrade on the perimeter. The point remains, however, that the team’s approach to the trade market will be multi-pronged. The question is, what are the most likely potential courses of action? All signs seem to be pointing to the Thunder dealing Reggie Jackson.

Beyond the somewhat awkward pairing with the freshly acquired Waiters, there are also chemistry issues with Jackson. He has made it clear that he wants to start and with Russell-I-Murder-Every-Rim-I-See-Westbrook in front of him on the depth chart, that’s probably not a realistic option. Couple that with his impending pay raise (his salary potentially ballooning to $12 million/year) and a closeted desire to move the mercurial point guard is certainly understandable.

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As Ken Berger at CBS Sports reported, the New York Knicks are already attempting to reengage the Thunder in trade talks for Jackson. The news makes sense given New York’s void at point guard and their severe lack of star power to play alongside Carmelo Anthony. This is the exact situation that Oklahoma City is looking for, a point guard-needy team that doesn’t need Jackson to be their lone superstar.

So in the event that OKC does move Jackson, what would be they looking for? More than likely, Dion Waiters would take over as the chief playmaker off the bench. As Yahoo!Sports’ Michael Gallagher points out, keeping the ball in his hands seems to be the best option, as he does the vast majority of his damage off the dribble.

Therefore, the ideal target would be an efficient shooter who can play off of the ball at the point guard spot. This would maximize Waiters’ strengths as he could take over as chief facilitator and playmaker while the point guard serves to spread the floor when rangy shooters like Durant and Morrow are on the bench. Someone like Jose Calderon or Jarrett Jack fits this mold, although the return for Jackson likely necessitates more than this.

The Thunder could also look to bolster an aging front line with Nick Collison and Kendrick Perkins both heading toward the end of their respective contracts. Should they do that, a back-to-the-basket type scorer is likely the target as defensive-oriented rim protectors (read: Serge Ibaka and Steven Adams) already exist on the roster. It seems the Thunder have already entertained this line of thinking with the Brook Lopez report above.

The real stumbling block to a Jackson trade, however, is salary cap complications. With the Thunder being over the tax and already utilizing their trade exception, they can really only take back in salary what they send out. With Jackson still being on his rookie deal, his salary only comes to a total of $2.2 million. To facilitate any sort of solid trade before the deadline, the Thunder would likely need to include other journeyman such as Perkins, Jeremy Lamb or Perry Jones.

Ultimately, it is far more likely that the Thunder simply opt to hang on to Jackson and find a way to make him and Waiters work together off the bench. Moving Jackson along with a bench cog such as Perkins or Lamb guts an already shallow reserve group. Heading into the summer, it seems far more likely that Oklahoma City will reevaluate his status with the team once the rest of the league dictates his value.

If there’s one thing we’ve learned from Sam Presti, however, it’s to always expect the unexpected.

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