The Hornets are waiving veteran point guard Reggie Jackson, league sources tell Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer. Boone had previously reported that the move was expected, and it’s now official, per NBA.com’s transaction log.
According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link), Jackson intends to sign with the Sixers once he clears waivers.
Prior to Wojnarowski’s report, Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer had tweeted that the 76ers would have interest in Jackson, who played with Paul George in Los Angeles from 2020-23.
A 13-year NBA veteran, Jackson spent the 2023/24 season in Denver, backing up Jamal Murray at the point. He averaged 10.2 points, 3.8 assists, and 1.9 rebounds in 22.2 minutes per game, posting a .431/.359/.806 shooting line in 82 outings (23 starts).
Jackson exercised a $5.25MM player option in June, but the Nuggets wanted to go in a different direction with their backup point guard spot and traded the 34-year-old to Charlotte along with multiple second-round picks in a salary-dump deal. Denver is poised to sign Russell Westbrook to fill the backcourt hole created by that deal.
The Hornets, meanwhile, made their trade with Denver in order to acquire those future second-round picks rather than Jackson, who wasn’t in their plans for 2024/25. It’s the second time in the last two years that Charlotte has traded for Jackson and waived him shortly thereafter — it also happened in February 2023, when the Clippers sent him to the Hornets in a deal for Mason Plumlee. Jackson was cut three few days later and caught on with Denver on the buyout market at that time.
Waiving Jackson will create an opening on Charlotte’s 15-man roster, leaving the team with 13 players on fully guaranteed contracts and one (Taj Gibson) on a partially guaranteed deal.
The Sixers, meanwhile, figure to bring Jackson aboard on a minimum-salary contract, since that’s all they can offer to free agents after having used up their cap space and their room exception. The veteran guard will be the 13th man on Philadelphia’s standard roster, providing additional depth in a backcourt that includes rising star Tyrese Maxey, veterans Kyle Lowry and Eric Gordon, and rookie Jared McCain.
A minimum deal for Jackson will pay him about $3.3MM while counting against the 76ers’ cap for just $2.09MM.
I cannot stand the Sixers, but they are loaded with veteran talent. On paper, they should be a force in the east!
I would have gone after Westbrook instead of Jackson. IMO Jackson, Westbrook, etc, are all better options for my Knicks than Payne. Did the Knicks make a mistake?
Naw, I think the Payne signing is a smart one. He the type of hard-nosed, hustle player with a chip on his shoulder that thrives in Coach Thibs system. He may not be the most talented player, but he does the little things that don’t always get seen on the stat sheets
I liked Payne in Philly. I wished he had gone somewhere besides NYC, but I think you guys will like him In a limited role.
Payne will accept his work load. He’s a pro. He’s been this guy for a while. Jackson you could argue is used to diminishing minutes and Westbrook might want more. Payne will not pay much.
Westbrook wants to play in Denver though
The ECF will be Boston/Phily with Boston winning in 5
Funny how these players are repeatedly traded and waived by the exact same teams. Hornets acquired Jackson and waived him, and then did so again. Jazz did the same with Westbrook, 2 separate acquisitions and waived both times.
Makes me wonder how often that happens, a player is basically acquired and waived by a team twice in a row.
It happens every year. Just wait till the trade deadline(that’s when it happens a lot more).
Nice pickup …. Gotta say Sixers going for it. Still say Celtics are top, Bucks, Knicks.
Knicks with most depth …..
knick have a good looking squad, but they really need to address the 5 spot. 76ers should be in the mix all season.
@NYBasket. I hope you’re right. I actually wanted Burks back
How about good old DH12? For backup C?
Dwight
I am not gonna say it’s a BAD signing , just probably not the ideal or best fit.
They needed a pure playmaker, or a PF.
Sixers will not be able to give all these guys consistent minutes. Because like every year , they overload on one position, while being too shallow in depth at other positions.
Unless they decide to go big with duel centers they literally don’t have a powerforward. So it looks as if the plan is to go small with so many undersized guards.
Will be an interesting trade deadline for the Sixers. I expect Martin + one or more of the min deals to be packaged for a competent PF by the deadline.
Only reason Hornets do this now is because Jackson gave up some money in a buy-out I guess?
Otherwise they could have waited until they needed to reduce their roster count in hope of an extra trade.
Mr. OCTOBER Joins Seventy-Sixers !!