OKC Thunder: 3 season goals for Justin Jackson in 2020-21
Earn his next deal.
Jackson is in the final year of his rookie-scale contract. He is due $5.0 million for this season and at the age of 26, needs to put together a good 2020-21 season in order to maximize his earnings for the next phase of his career.
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As things stand Jackson has been unable to establish himself fully on any roster. He is a good rotation piece but that doe not get you paid very well in free agency. Jackson needs to show that he is versatile while having a skill worth being paid for.
What is a positive for Jackson is that will be entering his first free agency period when most teams are going to have a huge amount of salary-cap space available to sign players. However, they are also going to have a large number of high-quality players to give that money to.
The best scenario for Jackson is that he be re-signed by the Thunder on a two-year deal where he has the opportunity to grow. He may then become the desired piece for a team that is contending for a championship.
Thanks to the way that his career has started, Jackson is not going to get a huge deal next offseason. He has one season on the rebuilding OKC Thunder squad to maximize what he can get in the coming years.