Almost subconsciously, I have developed a personal “tier” system to help me categorize and keep track of the point guards in the league. And, to me, Reggie Jackson is in the tier right below the “fringe all-star” tier. The only problem is, that particular tier doesn’t have a name. Reggie Jackson is occupying that tier with Jrue Holiday and Jeff Teague and Darren Collison and Prime Brandon Knight and maybe some other dudes, but there is no name for the tier they inhabit, so I think about them even less than I would normally.
I could call them the “longshot all-stars”, implying that they would only make an all-star team in a very weak year or because of substantial conference imbalance. Or I could call them the “good enough to be the long-term answer but always included in trade talks anyway point guards”. Or, on a similar theme, the “teams will give them the max and not quite be happy about it point guards”.
Reggie Jackson has been playing very well this year, upping his shooting percentages to their highest yet, so he’s next in line for promotion to a higher tier. I will send him an official letter on my own personal letterhead when that happens. Players love knowing where they reside in my personal tier system.