The more I think about it, the more I think that Reggie Jackson should definitely not ask to be bought out of his Pistons contract in order to pursue opportunities with a playoff team. He’s got it all right now. He’s in the perfect position for a veteran point guard looking for another payday. The PERFECT position. I’m sure his agent is advising him similarly.
Jackson can put up stats with this Pistons team. They don’t have another go-to scorer. He is literally their first option right now. That’s REASON TO STAY #1.
The Pistons have a bunch of hungry young players who will happily shoot the ball when it is passed to them. Christian Wood in particular is like a machine that generates infinite free assists. That’s REASON TO STAY #2.
The fans in Detroit might not be big fans of Jackson, but they’ll tolerate him. There are a lot of reasons why the Pistons have been aggressively mediocre for a decade now, and Jackson is one of those reasons, but he’s not the biggest offender. Fans’ tolerance of him is REASON TO STAY #3.
Detroit has a lot of cheap real-estate. You can buy burned-out homes in the ghetto for basically nothing. Nobody will rob you because nobody expects you to be sleeping in a partially-collapsed house, exposed to the elements and with no utilities. NBA players can save tons of money as opposed to living in high-profile destinations like LA and NY. That’s REASON TO STAY #4.
As you can see, Jackson should play out his contract in Detroit and then look to get paid somewhere else. Heck, he could even get paid by Detroit if they wanted him, with the caveat that he’s not going to be the #1 option indefinitely.