Darnell Jackson Cannot Be Overlooked

You know Haslem. He went undrafted in 2002 after putting together a nice career at Florida. To think of a guy like Haslem today as being undrafted boggles the mind, but the former Florida Gator had to go to Europe to play a year before signing a short deal with the Miami Heat. He ended up playing a key role in the team's 2006 championship run.

Both Jackson and Haslem are undersized at 6'8". Haslem might be even smaller, since he's listed as being 15 pounds lighter than Jackson. But, just as Haslem was six years ago, Jackson was overlooked on draft day, despite being able to bring all the things a championship team needs.

The reason you can expect Jackson to make a quicker and more consistent contribution compared to Hickson is that the Cavs are expecting more out of Hickson long-term. They want him to be one of their best low-post options in the coming years, and he's expected to bring the complete package on both sides of the floor.

The Cavs didn't bring Jackson in for any kind of offensive contributions. Jackson is focused on solely making a name for himself on defense, the boards, and as a banger and scrapper.

In fact, it was Miami who drafted Jackson in the first place. Ferry acquired the rights to Jackson from the Heat in exchange for the lower of the Cavaliers two second-round picks in the 2009 NBA Draft. Again, Ferry pulled off a deal that involves absolutely no risk—the lower of two second-round picks?—with the potential for a high reward.

Jackson could also be a good replacement as an energy player for Varejao if the latter doesn't have a future with the team.

As training camp and the preseason approaches, keep an eye on how Brown uses Jackson. This offseason wasn't all about Hickson and Williams. Sure, Williams was the gem of Ferry's summer masterpiece, but as mentioned earlier, nearly every move Ferry made involved no risk with the potential of being something huge.

And just as Daniel Gibson did two seasons ago (wow, has it really been two seasons?), Jackson could have a quite a large say in how the Cavs' championship aspirations play out.

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