Van Gundy Says Pistons Could Keep Both Jackson And Jennings Long-Term
By Ashley Dunkak
@AshleyDunkak
CBS DETROIT - Following the trade deadline craziness in which the Detroit Pistons acquired Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Reggie Jackson, head coach Stan Van Gundy called most of his players to see how they were doing. He did not talk with point guard Brandon Jennings, who had led the flagging Pistons on an encouraging run this season before he went down with an Achilles injury.
After trading for Jackson, Van Gundy wanted to speak with Jennings in person.
"He and I will talk for sure," Van Gundy said, "but look, Brandon has great confidence in his abilities, too, and I don't think he's a guy that will shy away from having somebody here. He just needs to hear from us what our plans are and that he's still in them, and he is, so we'll go forward like that. But we certainly did acquire Reggie with the thought being our long-term future, and we're happy about that and anxious to get him in here."
Jennings had been the starter; now Van Gundy has named Jackson to that role and has referred to Jackson as a cornerstone of the team going forward. The coach insisted, however, that bringing in Jackson - and making a long-term commitment to him, which is what the Pistons hope to do - does not preclude Detroit from keeping Jennings around as well.
"If you look at a team like Phoenix and some other teams, they've done it with multiple point guards," Van Gundy said. "The league in general tends – not everybody, but the league in general tends to be playing smaller, and we're anxious to get Brandon back and see where he's at and then we've got, he's got next year and then we can evaluate it going forward on where we want to go, but I don't think at all that it means Brandon won't be here long-term. That's not the way we're looking at it."
The organization could decide to go in a different direction after the 2015-2016 season, the last one Jennings has on his current contract with Detroit. At least for next season, however, Van Gundy assures that the team can still use his services.
"We certainly need two point guards, and there would be room for him," Van Gundy said. "Again, I've said all along, there's a lot of uncertainty around Brandon, and so we needed to make sure we were protected, plus Brandon's only signed through next year, so we wanted to get a long-term option, and there's still plenty of room for Brandon.
"I think it takes the pressure off of him having to rush back, which is a positive thing," Van Gundy added, "and we can move forward."
Pistons forward Caron Butler, who played for Oklahoma City last season, said he can envision Jackson and Jennings sharing time at point guard.
"You see a lot of situations in which guys are playing two playmakers at the one and two," Butler said. "You look at a team like Phoenix; they traded for Brandon Knight. I don't know if he's a traditional one or a traditional two, but I do know he can play the game of basketball, and he can put it in the basket.
"I know that about Brandon, and I know that about Reggie," Butler continued. "Who says they can't coexist with one another? You have yet to see what's going to happen, but I like our additions, and I could see them playing alongside one another or whatever the case may be and just creating that winning culture here like we're doing."
