Fantasy Niche for Reggie Jackson

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The time span for Russell Westbrook’s return to the court is up in the air. In all likelihood Oklahoma City or Westbrook would jeopardize an early return to the court. The NBA season is a five and a half month regular season. Oklahoma City has enough talent without Westbrook to compete at a high level in the Western Conference.

On the roster still remains ageless 39 year old Derek Fisher. At best he is a twelve to fifteen minute a night player these days and is mainly an offensive threat from long range. Defensively he has become too much of a liability to guard the young point guards in the NBA. Fisher knows his role on the team and will aid Russ Westbrook’s backup, Reggie Jackson, in the process.

Jackson was not a highly talked about player a few seasons ago out of Boston College, but landed to the Thunder as a 24th pick. The organization believed in his capabilities and Jackson showed last year filling in the playoffs that he can play at a high level. Sustaining that top play is always a worry with a young guard. Especially of Jackson’s variety, who is a score first type of point guard at a smaller size.

It looks like Jackson has prepared well for the possibility of having an increased role to start the season. In October preseason games he has scored over ten points in all but one game, including a dazzling 29 point performance. A year ago the Thunder clearly did not have that third scorer in Kevin Martin that they hoped he would be when they traded away James Harden.

Younger players such as Jeremy Lamb and Perry Jones just weren’t and don’t appear to be ready for the NBA game just yet. They’ll likely need some fine tuning in the development league.

The guy that will fill that role even when Russ Westbrook returns is Jackson. That non grey area has to make fantasy basketball owners pleased. You can get Jackson as a bargain in most drafts now as the idea of Westbrook returning has cast a shadow of doubt on Jackson’s overall fantasy value.

Don’t let it sway you from grabbing a solid prospect. Scoring is what Oklahoma City does. Kevin Durant is a volume shooter that scores in high percentages. Jackson will assuredly get a big amount of automatic assists on Kevin Durant catch and shoot shots.

Jackson isn’t afraid to take it to the hoop himself either and draw fouls. Overall in rotisserie style fantasy basketball leagues I’d look to add Jackson. He will help you out in the crucial categories of assists, steals, high percentage free throws, and even scoring. The one area you’ll have to take a hit on with Jackson is his three point percentage and makes.

Not every prospect can be well rounded. Know the talent of the players you plan on drafting, and draft accordingly.