The OKC Thunder waived Justin Jackson five days ago, and many Thunder fans wonder why this franchise let go of the 15th overall pick in the 2017 draft.
Shontelle Matano and I will be sharing our thoughts on different moves and roster decisions each week. This week, we will be looking at both sides of the latest action from Oklahoma City.
TI will be looking at three reasons why the Thunder made the right decision in cutting ties with Jackson. Let’s look at why Sam Presti and co. waived the former North Carolina product:
1) OKC Thunder Making room for incoming talent
This week, the OKC Thunder have been highly active in bringing in fresh talent. They’ve gone on to sign three different players in acquiring Gabriel Deck, Jaylen Hoard, and Justin Robinson.
This development is noteworthy because there were not many players on the current roster who were necessarily expendable other than Darius Miller and Justin Jackson.
It is safe to say Jackson was trying out for a roster spot the duration of the season. In 33 games this year, he put up seven points, two rebounds, and one assist.
These numbers were not enough to convince the front office that the former first-round pick fit this Thunder unit.
2) The Forward position is profound for the OKC Thunder
OKC now has nearly ten players at the forward position, leaving Jackson very little room to get a rhythm going within this rotation.
Unfortunately, Jackson is the odd man out of the group because they are so deep at the forward position.
Barring any severe injuries to other players, Aleksej Pokusevski and Darius Bazley would see the forward minutes’ bulk. However, setbacks at the beginning of the season allowed Jackson to fill in for these players. Nonetheless, Mark Daigneault could not find sufficient reasoning to keep Jackson in the rotation.
Unfortunately, Jackson could not find his footing with the current OKC Thunder unit.
3) There was never a good fit for Jackson in OKC
It certainly seems like Jackson never found a consistent rhythm with this club despite his incredible shooting from the 3-point line.
One game that stands is when Jackson scored a season-high 22 points back in February against the Milwaukee Bucks when he went 100% (4-4) from beyond the arc and ended up drilling a go-ahead triple that put OKC in the win column that night against a formidable Bucks squad.
This game was the only time where Jackson seemed locked in and had continuity with this franchise. After this impressive outing, it was never the same for the 26-year-old.
Whether it was inconsistent minutes or not finding a spot in the rotation, Jackson never seemed comfortable on the court with this unit.
In Closing:
Although basketball can be a ruthless business, I believe the OKC Thunder made the correct decision in releasing Jackson to make room for other players on the roster.
33 games is a large enough sample size to figure out what type of player Oklahoma City was working with, and it just wasn’t the right fit.
Presti has a clear vision of what he wants moving forward, and Justin Jackson did not fit the criteria.