Demetrius Jackson Signed

Adam Himmelsbach – Verified account ‏@AdamHimmelsbach

According to a league source, 2nd round pick Demetrius Jackson has finalized a four-year, $5.5 million deal with the Celtics.
1:54 PM - 26 Jul 2016


Brian Robb
Brian Robb
@CelticsHub 2 hours ago
A bit bigger than the 4-year, $5 million deal Jordan Mickey signed last year. Celtics must like Jackson a lot.



bob


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Adam Himmelsbach ✔ @AdamHimmelsbach
The fourth year for Demetrius Jackson is a team option, source says.
1:56 PM - 26 Jul 2016


bob


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Brian Robb
Brian Robb
@CelticsHub about 3 hours ago
With Jackson getting paid, have to believe C's think he's good insurance for if/when other guards are used for a star trade package.

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bob


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I don't get it, I thought he sucked in SL, then we leave Zizic over in Europe and Yabu goes to China?

cowens/oldschool wrote:I don't get it, I thought he sucked in SL, then we leave Zizic over in Europe and Yabu goes to China?

Cow,

Did you read the post immediately before yours?


bob


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thanks bob you mean we might trade IT, Rozier and Smart? so we better keep a guy who sure looks like he can't play.

cowens/oldschool wrote:thanks bob you mean we might trade IT, Rozier and Smart? so we better keep a guy who sure looks like he can't play.

Nope, he means we might trade one of Rozier or Smart, so we better keep a guy who sure looked like he could play over 70 games at Notre Dame the past two years, even if he looked bad in 7 summer league games, because he only has to be the 5th guard and would only play if someone got hurt (like Rozier playing when Turner went down) and is super cheap, young and has upside. Who would you rather have for insurance at PG? Phil Pressey?

Ram,

Many on this board would say "Yes" to Phil Pressey. That being said, I think DJ has more game than he showed in Summer League. Danny agrees with me on that.

gyso

I have no problem with Zizic and Yabusele both playing another year in some international league as both guys are still not even 21 years old. It would have been pretty much a draft oddity if either guy had been able to break the Cs rotation this year.

So, comparing keeping Jackson now or keeping these other two guys now really doesn't matter since they all play different positions. If they all were point guards there could easily be a concern for all of us.

Jackson was a very good, but not great college player in a big time program so I am guessing that he has more to show than he was able to show in summer league games. But, if he cannot show more if and when he needs to, he is easily replaced.

http://www.celticsblog.com/2016/7/27/12292472/who-is-demetrius-jackson

(there are some videos there, I don't have any luck in getting them to come over with the text.  Also, there is some interesting stuff down in the comment section)

Who is Demetrius Jackson?

The Celtics inked Jackson to a very lucrative deal for a second round pick. What exactly can he bring them on the court?

The Celtics made some waves Monday evening when they signed Demetrius Jackson. The Notre Dame product was awarded a 4 year, 5.5 million dollar deal with the last year being a team option via Adam Himmelsbach. The deal is fully guaranteed, a sign of how highly the C’s viewed Jackson, who unexpectedly dropped into the mid-second round after being pegged a 1st round pick by most experts.

I’ll be the first to admit that I was originally unimpressed with the move, and wasn’t a fan of what I watched in the summer league. However, a deeper look into what Jackson did at Notre Dame sheds a bit of a light on why the Celtics made this investment.

What can Demetrius Jackson bring to the next level?

Jackson is a mini 5’9 guard [my note: he's taller than that, closer to 6'-1"] with a cornerback-like body, and athleticism that was highlighted by plays like this:

Jackson was featured heavily in the ND system that had a short rotation spearheaded by Jackson. His 36 minutes per game in 35 games is equivalent to about a 15 minutes per game workload throughout an 82 game season. Notre Dame ran it's fair share of zone defense, but Jackson showed some potential as a strong on-ball defender with the lateral quickness to keep up with just about anyone. Because of his size and limited wingspan, his defensive versatility is limited, but being able to defend the most important position in basketball is still a useful skill. At the next level, Jackson will need to work hard to understand team principles and understand positional defense fully. His athleticism won't be as much as a weapon defensively, where teams will run him through screen after screen. Anticipation and understanding where to be at all times will be his only hope at competition on that end. And even if he does all that, there's still a chance he'll be a bad defender -- the downside of being that height.

Offensively, Jackson didn't show it much in the summer league, but he's a crafty pick and roll player.

Jackson is great at changing the pace with hesitations to throw off the timing of the trees that surround him. His quick first step keeps defenders on his heels, and his ability to shoot from range (career 38.1% from three in college) gave him the full arsenal to attack from the pick and roll. Jackson is still developing as a passer, but has shown some promise, especially in the PnR where he uses hesitation moves to create passing lanes to thread the needle.

The vision and creativity are there as a passer, even though he doesn't have the gaudy assist numbers to back them up. As Jackson gets accustomed to his team, his passing creativity will become more noticeable. In a league that is heavy on PnR, his ability to shoot, pass, and attack may give him a niche that he can expand on.

Though defensively Jackson may not have the versatility that the Celtics are accustomed to, he will have that ability on offense. In college, Jackson averaged 1.24ppp off catch and shoot opportunities and 2.0ppp when he's left wide open. His range seems like it can hold up from NBA range which bodes well for his NBA aspirations. For a Celtics team that really needs guys who can hit a three pointer, Jackson could make a few cameos since the C's have enough versatile defenders to hide him.

One of the last things that made this such a Danny Ainge pick was Jackson's intangibles. In short, the guy is tough, and he has a reputation as a blue-collar worker. Similar to Terry Rozier, Marcus Smart, Avery Bradley, and what many considered Ainge to be. The hard-nosed defensive guards have been a consistent staple in the Ainge era draft history. Though some scoff at the idea of a GM picking a prospect in his image, I find in that it works well. In drafts filled with teenage kids who have similar upside, how do you determine where to go? Ainge relies on guys that are known as hard-workers with high character. If you're investing your time, money, and effort in young men, those are probably the two characteristics that you look for. It's what separates the Terry Rozier's from the James Young's. Jackson being known as a prospect with higher intangibles bodes well for his chances at the next level. At his size, those are the things that could be the difference from being an NBA player to playing in China in two years.

Where does Jackson fit in to Celtics plans?

This is more of an interesting question. Though Jackson does theoretically have skills that can help the Celtics, right now it's really all just theory. Jackson doesn't project to be better than Isaiah Thomas, Marcus Smart, Avery Bradley, or Terry Rozier so minutes just won't be their. However, he will most likely have a strong role in Maine, where he can learn the team schemes and be a bus ride a way in case one of the guards goes down with an injury. Because of where he was picked, it might be fair to assume that he won't add much trade interest, but if he does show a lot of promise in Maine, it could give the Celtics more leverage to deal away one of their other guards. Regardless, considering the skill-set, and potential fit, this was a solid move by Boston.

Good article from Celticsblog on Jackson. Sums up quite well why he makes a lot of sense.

My only criticism for the writer is where this 5'9" thing comes from and why he didn't mention Jackson's crazy vertical leap. Colleges might fudge measurables a bit, but the NBA draft combine does not. Jackson was 6' w/o shoes, 6'1.25" with shoes had a 6'5.5" wingspan and an insane 43.5" vertical. Those numbers are all pretty much accurate and can be repeated as fact.

Ram wrote:Good article from Celticsblog on Jackson. Sums up quite well why he makes a lot of sense.

My only criticism for the writer is where this 5'9" thing comes from and why he didn't mention Jackson's crazy vertical leap. Colleges might fudge measurables a bit, but the NBA draft combine does not. Jackson was 6' w/o shoes, 6'1.25" with shoes had a 6'5.5" wingspan and an insane 43.5" vertical. Those numbers are all pretty much accurate and can be repeated as fact.

Ram,

When I read the article, I thought, "Holy crap, we drafted Thomas' replacement". It wasn't until I read down through the comments below the article that I discovered his real height. It was also interesting to read how high he was projected to go in the draft. Maybe we got a steal, maybe not. Time will tell.

gyso

cowens/oldschool wrote:thanks bob you mean we might trade IT, Rozier and Smart? so we better keep a guy who sure looks like he can't play.

Cow,

I think Ram did a very good job of addressing this.  Summer league don't mean diddly for a rookie playing in his first summer league season.  He averaged 16.6 mpg, so he didn't get the heavy minutes that Rozier or Brown did.  That's understandable, of course, but it is still hard for a complete newbie to come in and hit his stride.  He only shot 41.6% in SL, but 45% from 3.  For a team looking for better fg% from outside, that's a big stat.  I wasn't impressed with his handle, he played a little fast and loose and turned the ball over too much but, like I said, it was his first toe dip in the water.  2nd year players are expected to shine, like Rozier did, rooks are just expected to show solid progress (like Nader did.  If Danny had drafted Kris Dunn instead of Brown I think Nader would be a lock to make the team).  It was hard to figure out what we have with Hunter and Mickey because they were both coming off of, or fighting through, injuries.  James Young, of course, did a belly flop.  His 43.4% from 3 would be nice if RJ Hunter hadn't hit 47.5% from 3.

And yes, we might trade either IT or Rozier or Smart, so we should have someone else.  I strongly doubt we'll trade IT but if Danny has a chance to hit the mother lode, whomever that might be, it could happen.  Think Danny wouldn't trade IT back to Sacto, with other assets, if it got us Cousins?

We've lost Turner.  We replaced his size with Brown but we also need to replace his ball handling.  Brown might be a good dribble driver but he is not a point guard.  And even if he turns out to be a point forward, even if he grows into that position (he's only 19!) we need depth at that NOW.  Demetrius Jackson (sorry, gyso, I am not ready to use the initials 'DJ' to refer to him yet) is a 21 year old point guard.

Pressey played positively manic defense for his size.  He is a phenomenal ball handler, great floor general and a blur going full court, but he couldn't throw the ball in Boston Harbor from the end of the pier.  Jackson can catch-and-shoot, he can move-and-shoot and he can create his own shot.


bob


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Speaking of needing an upgrade at ball-handling...


Ben Rohrbach
@brohrbach about 2 hours ago
Been hearing people say C's will miss Turner more than you think, but keep in mind they were 2.7 points per 100 possessions better w/o him.

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bob


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BobH,

LOL on DJ. I felt a little off typing that, but Demetrius is a name that my mind hasn't grokked yet. I will just have to type DJack from now on.

gyso

gyso wrote:BobH,

LOL on DJ.  I felt a little off typing that, but Demetrius is a name that my mind hasn't grokked yet.  I will just have to type DJack from now on.

gyso  

gyso,

Or you could bookend it with 'DemSon', but that sounds too much like Chinese brunch.


bob


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gyso wrote:

gyso,

Pretty good looking stuff there.

Here's his college page from basketball-reference.com.

They adjust to /40mpg rather than the /36mpg the pro page does.

His scoring/minute, 2pt and 3pt fgas/minute, assists/minute, rebounding/minute, ftas/minute and ft% all went up year-over-year-over-year.

Other stats were less consistent, but his PFs/minute went down and stayed down.


http://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/demetrius-jackson-2.html


One of the things we missed last year was a go-to shooter. We had IT, but that was about it. Bradley isn't a shot creator, he needs a pick or movement off the ball and a pass. Same with Jae Crowder. Kelly and Jerebko were great 3pt shooters, but not great shot creators (Kelly was good at creating shots for others but not for himself).

Bottom line, though, is that unless Rozier gets hurt I don't see him playing a lot (UNLESS there's a trade and a guard is moved).


bob


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Jackson will probably prove to be a steal where we picked him. I'm not sure how he dropped that far, but good for us. He will be an NBA point guard, probably isn't going to need much Maine time, if any, and gives us depth behind IT and Rozier. Add those three to Smart and Bradley and you're a good 5 strong at guard. If we get an outside shooter and a rebounder somewhere along the line this season or next, we're starting to look pretty good.

Jared Weiss
Jared Weiss
@CLNS_JaredWeiss about 1 hour ago
If there is anything to be taken away from the Jackson contract, it's that the Celtics were as shocked he fell to them as we were.

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bob


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The reason for his 4 year deal (and Mickey's deal last year as well as Bentil's this year) is to get them past three years under contract. That gives the Celtics full Bird rights whenever their rookie contract runs out.

These guys are all second round picks. There is no automatic salary scale set up for second round picks like there is for first round picks. The old way was to give them a couple years at the vet minimum, but at the end of contract, the team has to have cap space to resign them or risk losing them.

The situation with Whiteside and the Heat is an example of a second round pick who only had a two year contract. He exceeded expectations and the Heat wanted to keep him. They had Wade, Deng and Whiteside all needing new contracts this year. I imagine that they wanted to keep all three and add more players with them as a core. Because they did not have Bird rights on Whiteside, they would have to lose one and they chose Deng.

In the confusion, they pissed off Wade and he left, but that is besides the point. If they had thought to take a chance and give Whiteside at least a three year deal, the off season would have gone down differently.

So now the Celtics have three new players picked in the second round with 3 years or longer contracts. When their rookie contracts are up, the Celtics can resign each of them using Bird rights, and go over the cap in doing so. If they pan out (like Whiteside) they give them a raise, if they don't impress the Celtics brass, they can let let them walk. The Celtics don't have to make a difficult decision and possibly lose a good player because they are capped out.

That's wicked smart!

gyso