Reggie Jackson Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Van Gundy: Andre Drummond Needs To Improve

April 14th, 2017 at 1:32pm CST by Arthur Hill

Pistons coach/executive Stan Van Gundy will hold a meeting Monday with Andre Drummond to discuss the center’s future with the organization, tweets Rod Beard of the Detroit News. At a press conference today, Van Gundy expressed confidence that the 23-year-old can still be a leader in Detroit, but added that he needs to commit himself to getting better. “He needs to have a sense of urgency to elevate his game,” Van Gundy said (Twitter link). “He has the potential to be good or great, but he needs to do some work to get there.” (Twitter link).

Drummond is coming off a season in which he played 81 games, averaging 13.6 points and 13.8 rebounds per night. While those numbers are solid, the Pistons were hoping for more after giving him a five-year extension last summer with a potential value of more than $125MM. Detroit’s front office reportedly began to sour on Drummond as losses piled up this season and was listening to trade offers before February’s deadline. Van Gundy stated that motivation remains a concern with Drummond, adding, “It’s an issue we need to address — and probably in a different way.” (Twitter link).

There’s more from today’s meeting with reporters:

Van Gundy is hopeful that point guard Reggie Jackson can bounce back from an injury-filled season. “Our medical people are confident he’s back now physically,” the coach said. “What he didn’t get back to was confidence.” (Twitter link). Jackson battled tendinitis problems in his knee all the way back to training camp and was shut down in early April even though the Pistons were still in the playoff race. Van Gundy said Jackson looked good in a recent practice and should be back to normal by the start of next season (Twitter link).
Van Gundy says Stanley Johnson needs “a better offseason” than he had last year to secure a spot in the rotation (Twitter link). Johnson is an elite defender, but needs to improve his offensive game by making more shots and committing fewer turnovers (Twitter link).
Van Gundy added that the team doesn’t need “a bombshell move” to get back to the playoffs (Twitter link).
GM Jeff Bower, who also spoke to reporters, believes the Pistons are in a good position to help themselves through the draft. Detroit holds the 12th pick heading into next month’s lottery, and Bower says the top half of the first round is especially strong (Twitter link).

Eastern Notes: Playoffs, Tavares, Pavlova, Jackson

April 12th, 2017 at 10:58pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Eastern Conference playoff matchups are set. The Celtics take home the No. 1 seed and will play the Bulls (8) in the opening round. The Cavaliers (2) will take on the Pacers (7). The Raptors (3) will clash with the Bucks (6) and the Wizards (4) will battle the Hawks (5).

The Heat were hoping to sneak in, but with both Indiana and Chicago winning tonight, they will watch the playoffs from home. Coach Erik Spoelstra, who’s in the conversation for the Coach of the Year award, is upset to see Miami’s season end, as Manny Navarro of the Miami Herald passes along via Twitter. “I don’t know if I ever felt this way about a team before. I don’t know if I’ve ever wanted anything more for a team,” Spoelstra said.

On the bright side, Miami has a shot at the No. 1 overall pick, owning 0.5% of the ping pong balls in this year’s lottery. You can find each lottery team’s chances at the No.1 overall pick on our Reverse Standings page.

Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:

The Cavaliers swapped Edy Tavares for Larry Sanders because they felt Tavares was “more game ready,” Sam Amico of Amico Hoops relays (Twitter feed). It was reported yesterday that Cleveland and Sanders mutually parted because he would not have made the rotation. Tavares had 10 rebounds and six blocks in his debut with the team tonight.
Irina Pavlova, who serves as a top adviser to Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov, is leaving the organization, Chris Mannix of The Vertical writes. Pavlova is on the board of directors for Brooklyn and Brooklyn Arena LLC, which is the company that runs the Barclays Center.
Coach/executive Stan Van Gundy sees Reggie Jackson‘s injury as a major reason why the Pistons never met expectations, Rod Beard of The Detroit News passes along. Jackson didn’t play well upon returning, but Van Gundy believes he will bounce back next year. “I think Reggie will come back and be as good as or better than he was two years ago. I honestly do. There were a lot of things that were physically and mentally very difficult for him to handle,” SVG said. “He’s committed to getting those things changed. He’s a talented guy and he’ll be really good next year — I have confidence in him.”

Pistons Unable To Waive Beno Udrih, Sign Lorenzo Brown

April 10th, 2017 at 11:45am CST by Luke Adams

11:45am: The Pistons won’t be waiving Udrih and signing Brown after all, tweets Shams Charania of The Vertical. According to Charania, league rules dictate that Sunday was the deadline for Detroit to cut Udrih and have him pass through waivers, so the Pistons were unable to complete the pair of transactions, despite the fact that Brown had been set to join the team.

As Bobby Marks of The Vertical explains (via Twitter), multiple teams finish their regular season on Tuesday, so not every team would have the opportunity to claim Udrih if he were to clear waivers on Wednesday.

10:05am: A source tells Rod Beard of The Detroit News (Twitter link) that the Pistons signing Brown and cutting Udrih is “possible, but complicated,” so we’ll wait to see whether the team is able to make it official today.

9:46am: The Pistons will make a change at point guard with just two games left in the season, according to Shams Charania of The Vertical, who reports (via Twitter) that the team will cut Beno Udrih and sign Lorenzo Brown.

Udrih suffered a right knee injury on Sunday, and hadn’t been expected to be available for the Pistons’ last couple games this week, so the move is designed to get a healthy body in to back up Ish Smith at the point guard position. Udrih had been on a one-year, guaranteed deal, so being waived now won’t affect his salary or his summer outlook. For the season, Udrih recorded 5.8 PPG and 3.4 APG in 39 games (14.4 MPG) for Detroit.

As for Brown, he returns to the Pistons after a 2016/17 season that saw him make a number of stops. After failing to earn a spot on Detroit’s regular season roster out of camp, Brown played in Russia and China. He eventually returned stateside and joined the Grand Rapids Drive, the Pistons’ D-League affiliate, with whom he averaged 23.6 PPG, 7.7 RPG, and 4.0 APG in 11 games down the stretch this season.

With Udrih out, the Pistons could have inserted Reggie Jackson back into their rotation for the final two games of the season. However, head coach Stan Van Gundy suggested last night that Jackson likely wouldn’t be an option, since the team had already committed to shutting him down for the season, as Rod Beard of The Detroit News details.

Reggie Jackson Unlikely To Play Again This Season

April 6th, 2017 at 12:34pm CST by Luke Adams

Having missed the team’s last five games, Pistons point guard Reggie Jackson isn’t expected to return to the court before the end of the regular season, head coach Stan Van Gundy confirmed today. According to Rod Beard of The Detroit News (Twitter link), Van Gundy said injuries to other Pistons could change his plan, but he doesn’t expect to play Jackson again this season.

It has been a rough year for Jackson, whose knee issues delayed his 2016/17 debut and have nagged at him all season. Coming off a career year in which he established new career-highs in PPG (18.8) and APG (6.2), the former Thunder point guard has seen his numbers slip across the board this season. He has posted 14.5 PPG, 5.2 APG, and a .419 FG% for the Pistons in 52 games (50 starts).

Jackson’s name was also mentioned several times in trade rumors during the days and weeks leading up to the deadline, with one Ricky Rubio-related rumor gaining enough traction that Van Gundy was forced to publicly shoot it down.

After this season, Jackson will still have three years remaining on his contract, with his salary set to increase to $16MM for 2017/18. That figure will continue to rise to $17MM+ and $18MM+ respectively in the final two years of his deal, so it will be interesting to see whether the Pistons make an effort to part ways with the former first-round pick this summer, or if they hope he can get healthy and bounce back next season.

With Jackson expected to miss the rest of the season, Ish Smith will continue to start at point guard for Detroit, with Beno Udrih backing him up.

Central Notes: Wade, Jackson, Cavaliers

April 4th, 2017 at 5:58pm CST by Austin Kent

Previously reported to be working out in hopes of, at best, returning for the postseason, a comeback before the end of the regular season now appears to be on the table for Dwyane Wade. Vincent Goodwill of CSN Chicago recently wrote about how the Bulls are optimistic about the veteran’s progress.

“It’s a day by day thing with Dwyane now,” Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg said. “He’s feeling better but obviously there’s a lot of work to do as far as getting his strength back.”

Fresh off of a four-game win streak, the Bulls now have a tenuous grasp on the Eastern Conference’s seven seed. With a distinct shot at competing in an unpredictable conference, the club would welcome the opportunity to get their offseason addition back into a routine prior to any official postseason action.

There’s more out of the Central Division:

After a disappointing season in which he never quite replicated the impact he had on his team the previous year, Reggie Jackson has been bumped from the Pistons lineup. Per Aaron McMann of MLive, head coach Stan Van Gundy thinks that the decision to sit the guard should have come sooner. “I think [sitting him] probably should have happened earlier, and I don’t think we were real fair with him in that,” he said.
The Pistons are aware that they face an uphill battle to sneak into the postseason but head coach Stan Van Gundy is eager to compete anyway. “Right now, you continue to fight,” Van Gundy told MLive’s Aaron McMann. “We know the deal. We’ve got a couple of teams — we pretty much have to go undefeated, and we need a couple of teams to lose three more games. It’s not easy, but nothing’s impossible in this league.“
The reigning champion Cavaliers have hit some bumps in the road since the All-Star break. Tom Withers of the Denver Post wrote about how frustration on the court may be starting to seep into the locker room.

Central Notes: Jackson, Pistons, Rondo, Mirotic

March 29th, 2017 at 4:16pm CST by Luke Adams

The Pistons are reportedly considering shutting down Reggie Jackson for the rest of the season, and if it happens, it would be the end to an extremely disappointing 2016/17 campaign for the team’s starting point guard. Jackson, who got off to a late start this season due to a knee injury, admits that he has felt like “a shell” of himself at times, per Aaron McMann of MLive.com.

“I wasn’t quite the same, and that’s something the organization saw, and I think they want to take care of it,” Jackson said. “Myself, like I said, it was a wall that I kept hitting, and it was one I was going to find a way to run through. … It’s tough. It’s very tough. It’s annoying, it’s frustrating. You know you’re better than what you’re putting out there on the court.”

As Detroit continues to compete for a playoff spot – without Jackson in the lineup for now – let’s round up a few more notes out of the division…

Even if the Pistons sneak into the playoffs, it has been a very disappointing season in Detroit, and major changes could be on the way this summer. As David Mayo of MLive.com writes, everything will be considered and everyone will be evaluated by the Pistons.
There were times this season when Rajon Rondo and Nikola Mirotic found themselves on the outs in the Bulls‘ rotation, but they’re playing some of their best ball of the season as of late, writes Sam Smith of Bulls.com. Rondo has a partially guaranteed salary for 2017/18, while Mirotic will be a restricted free agent, so both players are increasing their value at the right time.
Magic head coach Frank Vogel “really wants” veteran power forward David West to come and join his coaching staff whenever West retires as a player, tweets ESPN’s Zach Lowe. A 14-year veteran, West is playing a career-low 12.1 minutes per game this season, so Vogel may soon get an opportunity to hire him. The duo spent a few years together in Indiana when Vogel was coaching the Pacers.
With the postseason around the corner, Tyronn Lue is facing his toughest challenge since taking over as the Cavaliers‘ head coach. Terry Pluto of The Cleveland Plain Dealer explains.

Central Notes: Jackson, Korver, Jefferson

March 28th, 2017 at 8:45pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Pistons executive/coach Stan Van Gundy said he was his call to sit Reggie Jackson over the last couple games, as Rod Beard of the Detroit News tweets. “It has strictly been my call all the way. Reggie wants to be out there,” Van Gundy said. Earlier today, it was reported that the team may shut Jackson down for the remainder of the season.

Here’s more from the Central Division:

Kyle Korver will miss at least the next two games for the Cavaliers. He could miss more time, but he definitely wants to return before the end of the regular season, Marla Ridenour of the Akron Beacon Journal relays. “No, no, I don’t want to do that at all,” Korver said when asked about missing the rest of the season. “I’m hopeful just a few days here to completely shut down and not trying to test it out and see how it feels today. Take a few days and let it totally calm down and see where we’re at.”
Al Jefferson will be sidelined for at least two weeks as he recovers from a sprained left ankle, according to the Pacers‘ website. Jefferson suffered the injury against the Sixers on Sunday.
Glenn Robinson III will remain out for at least another week with a left calf strain, the Pacers add in the same press release. He’ll be re-evaluated at the end of next week.

Pistons Consider Shutting Down Reggie Jackson

March 28th, 2017 at 8:55am CST by Arthur Hill

Pistons point guard Reggie Jackson was held out of Monday’s game and could be shut down for the remainder of the season, according to Rod Beard of The Detroit News.

Jackson has been battling tendinitis in his left knee since October. He missed the season’s first 21 games after receiving platelet-rich plasma injections and was recently put in a platoon with Ish Smith to reduce his minutes. As a result, Jackson’s stats in points (14.5 per game), assists (5.2) and rebounds (2.2) all down significantly from last season.

Detroit coach/executive Stan Van Gundy said Jackson is doubtful tonight against Miami in a crucial matchup in the playoff race. That would give him four days of rest before Thursday’s game against Brooklyn, and the coach said “we’ll see” if Jackson can be ready then. Van Gundy consulted Monday with owner Tom Gores before deciding to keep Jackson on the bench.

“We’ve been thinking about this for a long time. It’s hard to put a percentage, but he’s been playing at probably about 80 percent and as we get into this stretch of games in March where we’re playing a lot, the fatigue is making it worse,” Van Gundy said. “We were at a stretch in the year where it wasn’t fair for him that we were running him out there and putting pressure on him. He’s seeing things he should be able to do and he just can’t do them. He’s not feeling pain, but he can’t make the plays he wants to make and we’re putting him out there.”

The Pistons are fighting for their playoff lives with just eight games remaining. They have dropped seven of their last last eight, but trail the eighth-place Heat by just a game and a half heading into tonight’s showdown.

Smith moved into the starting role for the past two games, with veteran Beno Udrih as his backup. Depending on the Pistons’ success and the status of Jackson’s knee, that could be the arrangement through the end of the season.

“As much as [Jackson] wants to, he can’t right now,” Van Gundy said. “It’s amazing what he’s done to average 14.5 points, 5 assists in 27 minutes, not anywhere near at full strength. To his credit, he fought me on it. He wanted to keep going.”

Jackson is finishing up the second season of a five-year, $80MM deal he signed in 2015. Although he has been the subject of trade rumors throughout the season, Van Gundy said Jackson remains in the Pistons’ plans for the future.

“The thing we look forward to is getting a fresh start in the offseason and being able to go through the preparation for a season like he did last year,” Van Gundy said. “… Physically, there’s no structural damage so we’re very optimistic that he’ll be able to get back to that.”

Pistons Notes: Jackson, Drummond, Van Gundy

March 25th, 2017 at 9:27am CST by Milo Taibi

The wheels are falling off for the 34-39 Pistons, who are 1.5 games out of the eighth seed following a 115-87 loss to the Magic. Reggie Jackson– who has been coming off the bench of late- said nobody’s job is safe.

“(Missing the playoffs) would suck — it sucks every year you’re not in the postseason and not one of the teams competing to be the last one standing,” Jackson told Rod Beard of Detroit News. “It’s tough. It’s a performance-based league so all our jobs are on the line. If we don’t get where we want to be, I’m sure coach knows as coach-president, he has a lot on the line. Myself, I was brought in to be the point guard and I have a lot on the line. We don’t know who’s going to be back next year or who’s going to be here tomorrow.”

Stan Van Gundy‘s Pistons have dropped six of their last seven, entering crisis mode in the middle of a playoff chase. If there’s one saving grace for Detroit, three of their next four opponents are fellow sub-.500 teams.

Central Notes: Bogut, Portis, Carter-Williams

March 5th, 2017 at 8:20pm CST by Austin Kent

The Cavaliers bench is as deep as its been in 47 years of franchise history, Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com writes. The addition of Andrew Bogut, who signed Thursday and is scheduled to play Monday, gives the club an impressively qualified 11th man.

Though Vardon acknowledges that many coaches reduce their rotation to seven or eight players in the postseason, Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue will have every opportunity to keep his at nine or ten.

“You never know what can happen and now you always got those guys on the bench that are ready to play,” Lue said of the new Cavaliers. “They are veteran guys that can step up, been in big positions and are capable of making good plays in the playoffs. So, that’s always a luxury to have.”

There’s more from the Central Division:

He didn’t demote Reggie Jackson to the bench but Pistons head coach Stan Van Gundy did tweak the minute distribution at the point guard position, MLive’s Aaron McMann reports. “The only thing we told [Jackson] was, he was going to go in shorter bursts and really pace himself,” Van Gundy said. “Push himself defensively and try and get the pace of the game up on offense. That’s all we talked about.”
Head coach Fred Hoiberg spoke about some of the miscommunication issues he’s had with Bulls players like Bobby Portis and Michael Carter-Williams. Mark Strotman of CSN Chicago reports that Hoiberg sounded frustrated when questioned about the reported incidents.
Released by the Heat mid-season, Derrick Williams has already found himself in a “perfect situation” in Cleveland, Marla Ridenour of the Akron Beacon Journal writes. Williams’ confidence is surging thanks to the support of his Cavaliers teammates. “When you’ve got guys like [LeBron James] telling you to shoot, the confidence just goes through the roof,” Williams said.