Reggie Jackson's injury is a blessing in disguise for Detroit Pistons

Reggie Jackson could return as soon as the end of this week. The Detroit Pistons (10-10) have really missed him, but his absence has fueled the development of several other core players, making the Pistons a more dangerous team.

When Pistons’ fans were found out the team was going to be without Reggie Jackson until mid December, many probably wondered what the offense would look like.

After all, the Pistons were going to be without their leading scorer, facilitator, and their best offensive playmaker.

It’s been a rocky road over the early part of the season, but a Jackson-less Pistons offense has finally formed an identify–feed the ball to Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Tobias Harris.

Perhaps the biggest development has come from Caldwell-Pope who has suddenly become a threat off the dribble and in the passing game. His offense looks more well rounded than it ever has.

Harris on the other hand has evolved into a deadly efficient scorer averaging a career high in points (17.1), field goal percentage (48.7%), and three-point percentage (35.3%).

The development of both players paired with a healthy Jackson should do wonders for a team looking to advance deep into the playoffs.

Instead of running offense through Jackson and Andre Drummond pick-and-rolls 90% of the time, the Pistons now have three players they can run plays for making it difficult for defenses to predict where the points will come from.

And as an added bonus, Ish Smith has had ample playing time with his teammates and thus accelerated chemistry. Smith himself looks like a more complete player.

While Jackson’s absence has no doubt hurt the Pistons in the standing, the long-term effect of his absence–assuming Caldwell-Pope and Harris maintain their improvement, even in lesser roles–certainly outweighs this initial bump in the road.