Darnell Jackson Cannot Be Overlooked

Let's get this out of the way right now—Danny Ferry pulled off a hell of an offseason for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

No, there was no "superstar" signed. There wasn't a future Hall-of-Fame sidekick like Scottie Pippen brought in for LeBron James. Heck, there are still some critics out there who think the Cavs still won't be a better team than the 45-37 debacle they put up last year.

Most of us know better. Getting Mo Williams, a 25-year old whose career symmetry aligns with LeBron James, is one thing. Getting him for Damon Jones and Joe Smith is quite another.

And while most fans were down the minute they heard "With the 19th pick of the NBA draft, the Cleveland Cavaliers select J.J. Hickson from N.C. State," the same fans are sky-high with anticipation for Hickson after the way he wrecked the competition in the Summer League.

But don't be mistaken into thinking that those are the only two impact players that Ferry brought in. The last time Ferry had a second-round pick, you may remember how well that turned out.

Two years after drafting Daniel Gibson with the 42nd overall pick, Ferry has brought in bruiser Darnell Jackson out of Kansas.

You probably know Jackson. When I was watching the NCAA Tournament, I always thought of Jackson as Kansas' "resident bad ass." He always talked, strutted, and played with an attitude.

For some reason, nobody ever thought he'd be a big-time player in the NBA.  That may be true, but that doesn't mean that he can't be a solid role player.

And on this Cavaliers team, that's all he'll need to be.

At 6'8", most league executives looked at Jackson as being undersized. But at 250 pounds, Jackson definitely has the brawn to bring it defensively and on the boards.

A guy who stayed for all four years under head coach Bill Self at Kansas, Jackson finally got legit playing time last season, and was a key cog in KU's championship run. Jackson played in all 40 of Kansas' games and averaged 24.3 minutes, while putting up 11.2 points and 6.7 boards.

But it was the name he made for himself as a "banger" inside and defensively that made him a solid "glue guy" for Self's Jayhawk club.

In Cleveland, Jackson has already made an impression with Mike Brown. And if you read into some of Brown's comments from an article in the Cleveland Plain Dealer earlier this week, it could be Jackson, not Hickson, who makes the biggest impact right away:

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"You take a guy like Darnell Jackson, he's a grizzled vet almost. His presence is almost similar to a guy who has been in the league three or four years. His talent is not J.J.'s, but D.J. does a lot for us that you wouldn't imagine a young kid having the capability of doing...I'm very excited about the potential of both [Hickson and Jackson]."

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Nobody has seen Jackson play much at the pro level yet. But when you look at him and the style of play he brings, along with his strengths, the first person to come to mind is Udonis Haslem.

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.