Last night, the Sixers signed the excitingly athletic Pierre Jackson to the first contract they’ve offered to any of their Summer League invites this year. But “Pappy Jack” isn’t exactly new to the Sixers. It’s been a long road for him to get here.

The 23-year-old Vegas native was originally drafted by the Sixers with the 42nd overall pick in 2013. On draft night, his rights were traded along with Jrue Holiday for Nerlens Noel. Jackson then signed with a team in France, though he never played a game for them, and four months later drafted fourth overall 2013 NBA D-League draft by the Idaho Stampede. He led the D-League in scoring in 2013 and was an All-Star. When the 2014 Draft rolled around, the Pelican’s traded Jackson’s draft rights back to the Sixers for the rights to Russ Smith (currently playing Summer League with the Grizzlies). Jackson then joined the Sixers in Summer League and tore his Achilles in the first game, leading to him being waived by the Sixers. It looked like this:

pappy path

Despite all that, he seemingly kept in touch with the Sixers, worked hard to get healthy, and retained a relationship with Sam Hinkie. That all led to the 5’10” Jackson finally signing with the Sixers last night. He becomes the 15th player on the team’s roster, thought they can carry up to 20 for now. And if he’s still on the team come opening day, there will be some fun stuff to look forward to.