Wednesday Bolts – 9.3.14
Reggie Jackson in a Q&A with Darnell Mayberry on a contract extension: “I definitely factor in all those things. Young players getting paid. Especially with Gordon, who I believe was the class before me, and then Chandler who was in my class… But you definitely kind of have to weigh yourself on what’s going on around the league. So you have to look at guys around you in similar classes and similar positions to try to get a barometer for what you should probably make. It’s been some groundbreaking deals going on this summer, and I have to take that into account when it comes to trying to get a deal done.”
Jack Winter of Dime: “Assuming Jackson builds on last season and enjoys a career campaign this season, he’ll surely command at least $10 million annually in restricted free agency next summer. And that might even be a conservative estimate if Scott Brooks elects to start him in 2014-2015 and Jackson looks to the max-level deals received by Hayward and Parsons in negotiations. We won’t know the luxury tax number for 2015-2016 until next summer, but the Thunder will almost certainly be close to it or exceed it if they re-sign Jackson. And if the latter would prove the case by Oklahoma City matching an offer sheet Jackson signs in July, it will likely elect against doing so altogether.”
The NBA jerseys as soccer jerseys is pretty fun.
I motion that Steven Adams do the Haka at midcourt before every game next season.
Another interesting answer from Jackson: ” I don’t think about ever coming off the bench for any team. If that’s the role I’m put in, that’s what I’m put in. But since the day I thought about playing in the NBA, I’ve always been a starter. Everything I’ve thought about, whether it be middle school, high school, kids leagues, I never envisioned coming off the bench. When you think about playing basketball, you see the first five guys get on the floor, and that’s something I’ve always prided myself on being. I want to be the best player I can be. I want to be the best player in the world. I don’t think those guys are necessarily coming off the bench. So I’ve never thought about that or even had that idea in the back of my mind.”
