Pierre Jackson signs one-year deal with Philadelphia 76ers: Analysis

Pierre Jackson signed a one-year deal with the Philadelphia 76ers, according to Mark Deeks of ShamSports.com

This comes as a bit of a surprise, given that Jackson is expected to miss the entire season after tearing his Achilles tendon on the first day of the Orlando Summer League. It’s a “mostly guaranteed deal,” per Deeks. It’s unclear whether or not Jackson simply signed the required tender that the Sixers were forced to offer him in order to keep his draft rights, or if the two parties simply agreed to a one-year deal.

Jackson, of course, was the rookie last season out of Baylor who took the NBA D-League by storm. He averaged 29 points and six assists in 31 contests for the Idaho Stampede. After realizing a call-up from the Pelicans was never coming, Jackson moved to Fenerbahce in Turkey, but only stayed over there for six games before a mutually agreed upon split.

It’s a strange deal, but it’s ultimately one that makes some sense for the Sixers. The team had already pledged to pay for his medical bills after playing on a non-guaranteed deal in Summer League, so if they’re paying for his bills they might as well work with him and try to develop him. It’ll help them get minimally closer to the cap floor, and they’ll now be able to work more closely with him than they were planning to prior to the deal.

Jackson still has a lot of potential if he can recover from this injury. He’s a lightning quick scoring guard with speed and shooting ability, and those guys tend to stick around as change-of-pace point guards in the Nate Robinson mold. Obviously, there will always be some problems defensively because of his diminutive height. But if he recovers and is what he was prior to this unfortunate setback, Jackson should be able to finally secure his rightful place in the NBA, be it for the Sixers or elsewhere.