Pistons' Marcus Morris: Reggie Jackson will pay all my fines for technical fouls

Point guard Reggie Jackson signed a lucrative contract extension with the Detroit Pistons this offseason, and with $80 million coming his way over the next five years, he's apparently feeling pretty generous.

"He told me today he's going to pay for my techs, so that's a plus," said Jackson's teammate Marcus Morris at Pistons training camp Wednesday, according to MLive's David Mayo.

If that's true, Jackson could wind up footing a pretty sizable bill. Morris, who was acquired from the Phoenix Suns in an offseason trade, racked up $19,000 in fines for nine technical fouls last season, tying him for 11th in the league despite the fact he played just 25 minutes per game.

Jackson would neither confirm nor deny the arrangement.

"We aren't going to go on public record saying that, necessarily, but we've got to be a team," he said. "I wouldn't tell y'all if I do that but I've got to take care of my team. I wouldn't tell y'all. It may happen, may not happen. But when guys take care of you, sometimes you've got to take care of guys."

According to Jackson, Morris "taking care of him" will mean providing a certain measure of physical protection.

"You definitely need that, especially me attacking the rim," Jackson said. "They're just going to whoop my ass all game. So I need guys like that to back me."

Morris, a 6-foot-9, 235-pound bruiser, has never been one to back down from a confrontation, often to his detriment. He landed himself in Suns coach Jeff Hornacek's doghouse last season after blowing up at him following a tech. Jackson, though, thinks he and the Pistons could benefit from Morris' fire.

"We're trying to make this a family atmosphere," he said. "Techs sometimes happen. He's going to be probably our vocal leader defensively, in terms of jaw jacking and getting into it, a confrontational guy sometimes. But we've got his back. We're going to play hard and that's going to be my guy."

Pistons fans who look back fondly on the rough-and-tumble Bad Boys era will likely agree.