Exit Interviews: Reggie Jackson’s ready for more

Royce Young -

Most interesting thing from today: Reggie Jackson said he was up until 3 a.m. last night dribbling a basketball. Said it’s something he always does.

It was kind of his jumping off point to talk about how much he loves the game and how much he’s always looking to improve. Jackson said he hopes to be part of OKC’s summer league team, because he’s itching to play.

Jackson has quickly become one of the more exciting and intriguing things about this Thunder team. His emergence in place of Russell Westbrook was incredibly impressive as he showed real signs and potential of blossoming into the Thunder’s bench stud of the future. The question is if Scott Brooks is willing to free his mind and not think of Jackson as exclusively a point guard. Jackson is a great combo player and needs to play alongside Russell Westbrook. And in a lot of ways, he needs to be the Thunder’s new sixth man.

“If that’s the number that’s called, I’m doing my best to be ready for whatever situation I’m thrown into next year,” Jackson said.

It was obvious in the postseason how good Jackson already is, and how good he can still be. He’s the type of player that can get to the rim almost at will, and he’s a splendid finisher. Where he needs to improve is with his jumper, specifically in the pull-up game. If that comes, along with a little playmaking, the Thunder have a serious bench piece and a potential secret weapon to use next to Westbrook.

For now, Jackson isn’t focused on any of that. He’s not thinking about role or playing time. He said he still feels like he should be getting ready to play Game 6 tonight, but as he transitions into the summer and starts focusing on improving his game, you can be sure he’s going to tirelessly work at it.

And because of it, he’s given Thunder fans something else to be really excited about.

“I’m ready to flash forward to camp right now,” he said.

Me too, Reggie. Me too.

The rest of the exit interviews:

REGGIE JACKSON

HASHEEM THABEET

JEREMY LAMB

DANIEL ORTON

RONNIE BREWER

PERRY JONES III

DEANDRE LIGGINS

SERGE IBAKA