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The four-year, $25 million deal [Jarrett Jack] signed over the summer is the most lucrative of his career and comes as he prepares to turn 30 two days before the start of the season. This is around the time players typically begin to decline, but Jack provides exactly what this young backcourt needs and the Cavaliers are confident he’ll maintain his level of production in part because of his proven durability throughout his career.
He averaged 12.9 points and 5.6 assists last season despite starting just four games for the Warriors. When asked if he would be disappointed if the Cavs failed to make the playoffs, Jack scoffed at the idea of just making the playoffs being the biggest goal of the season. Why bother, he reasoned, if players are happy just to show up and lose in the first round?
“What else are we playing for?” Jack asked. “Who cares if you got a free certificate to the playoffs and you went home with a free T-shirt they handed out for the first round? So what? Nobody cares or remembers that and I don’t think anybody should use that as a stepping stone. If you’re about to take a test, you don’t want to just get a 72, you want to get 100. Who wants to come in fifth place?”
Reported by Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal
