Pierre Jackson deems himself 100-percent healed from Achilles injury
Pappy Jack is almost back.
The league's most affable and exciting non-player has finished his comeback trail, with Pierre Jackson tweeting recently that he's now 100 percent healed from the torn Achilles that killed the #FreePierreJackson movement last summer.
Jackson suffered the injury at Las Vegas Summer League, where he was playing with the Philadelphia 76ers, who had acquired him less than two weeks earlier from the New Orleans Pelicans. It was a disappointing turn for Jackson, who had spent all of 2013-14 dominating in the D-League without an NBA call-up and suddenly lost his fresh start and 2014-15 season.
While Jackson is technically an unrestricted free agent – the 76ers signed him and then waived him after he was injured – he could figure into Philadelphia's plans for 2015-16.
As we wrote when the 76ers waived him, the deal gave Jackson $400,000 in guaranteed money but also allowed Philly the financial flexibility to bring him back cheaper next year, at no cost to the player, since he didn't accrue any NBA service time.
| Pierre Jackson | Scenario A | Scenario B |
|---|---|---|
| 2014-15 | $507K | $400K |
| 2015-16 | $845K | $525K |
| 2016-17 | $980K | $875K |
| Total | $2.3M | $1.8M |
It was a win-win, and any risk on the part of the Sixers that Jackson doesn't return healthy is mitigated by the fact that they used the guaranteed portion of his contract to help them reach the salary floor. If his recent dunks are any indication, that risk has been eliminated by Jackson himself:
In 2013-14, the Baylor product averaged 29.1 points and 6.2 assists with Idaho of the D-League. This, after averaging 19.8 points as a college senior, 20th among qualified scorers.
The #FreePierreJackson movement may have ended, but his story is still waiting to be written. Here's hoping this season is finally the one in which he breaks through to the NBA.