When the Sixers signed Pierre Jackson to a contract after he had suffered an Achilles injury that would rule him out for the upcoming season, the team’s commitment to tanking appeared to be the primary reason, and the transaction seemed comical more than anything else.
But as it turns out, it was an entirely altruistic gesture.
From Marc Stein of ESPN.com:The Sixers, I’m told, have today waived last season’s @nbadleague sensation Pierre Jackson
As @MarkDeeksNBA notes, Pierre Jackson DOES get a guaranteed $400,000 from Sixers for this season while he rehabs from summer Achilles tear
That’s pretty awesome.
It’s one thing for a star player like Paul George to reap the rewards of a guaranteed contract while rehabbing from injury, but it’s another thing entirely for a team to sign a player who had already been injured, full well knowing he wouldn’t play for them in the upcoming season, simply as an act of kindness.
The Sixers were in a unique position to do something like this. While most teams pore over their players’ salaries looking to squeeze every dollar of efficiency out of the cap number, Philadelphia is actually below the league’s salary floor, which gives them the ability to spend as the team sees fit.
In this instance, they chose to reward a player who worked hard for them, and showed promise during the summer. Even if the Sixers didn’t decide to hold his spot on the roster this season, they did right by Jackson financially, which can only be viewed as a positive.