Note: Sam e-mailed me this piece looking for a response, and I thought I’d throw it up here.
I wonder if Bryan Colangelo regularly sees a fortune teller…
I mean, I liked the Luke Jackson signing before Garbo got injured, but now after the fact, I love it. Like Colangelo said, Jackson is a shooter, and so with Parker experiencing injury issues and Bargnani down, we need a “shooter insurance policy.” Jackson could have nicely fit that bill if needed. But, now that Garbo is gone, Jackson becomes almost a necessity in my opinion. Joey Graham (aka The Lost) can’t really do anything well, shooting included, and Mo is in “slow-Mo” mode right now, so I think Jackson steps right on in to play. Maybe Jackson won’t start – Slow-Mo will be penciled in – but I see Jackson filling a sort of Kyle Korver role for the Raps. He steps in, hits some open shots to expose a defence attempting to double on Bosh. His playing time will mostly be determined by how fluid he is in the offense — let’s face it, the Raptors don’t really play much ‘D.’At worst, Jackson ends up being a very good PJ Tucker (I realize they are totally different players – I’m talking about overall value and potential), but at best, I see Jackson evolving into the player we should have drafted over Araujo (I’ve tried so hard to forget him, I’ve lost the spelling of his horrible name!) in 2004.
-Sam
I guess I have the benefit of being the respondent in this situation, as I can agree and disagree with a few of Sam’s points. Foremost, I agree that Colangelo definitely sees a fortune teller or, himself, has some Cleo-like powers. If you’ve seen the Chappelle sketch where he reads fortunes based on racial stereotypes, you may have found Bryan’s secret, but his blatant love for white people is a topic for another time.
I loved the Luke Jackson signing as well. PJ Tucker was struggling even in the D-League and just doesn’t appear to be an NBA player, which sucks since I love any Longhorn output. Tucker is also buried deep on the depth chart behind Bosh, Rasho, Garbo, Humphries, Slokar, and (snap, crackle, and) Pape. Ok, so we’ve established Jackson made sense with Bargnani down, because he can play the 3 and spread the defence. His role, though? And his upside? That’s where our opinions differ.
Jackson is not Jannero Pargo or Rafer Alston, he isn’t going to translate a 10-day with the Raptors into a big money deal. He has no chance at starting at all – Joey Graham has played well over the last four games and will likely get the nod because of his defence and rebounding. Mo will be option #1 off the bench, and Dixon will get a lot of extra run, moving Parker to the 3 when we see smaller lineups (e.g. tonight against the Heat). Jackson will still have to fight for minutes, but we’re going to have to move to small(er) ball with two bigs out, so Luke will get some looks to impress.
I’d like to say Luke is going to blow my expectations away (my expectations, by the way, are a few threes a game and nothing else). I’d like to say he’ll stay with the team, but Colangelo has expressed interest in bringing a EuroLeague player over at the commencement of the European season (soon). Jackson doesn’t have a lot of time to impress because Il Mago is ahead of schedule on the return front.
I’m usually very optimistic about the Raptors and everything they do. However, Jackson is still behind a few proven players on the depth chart, and I really think Joey’s on the verge of a breakthrough (I love the guy, gimme a break). Jackson will have to scrap for minutes, perform well to get more minutes, and perform well enough over the next week that there isn’t a better option (Denham Brown, anyone?). The Raptors are hurting right now, but still very much a good team. Jackson helps that and is a nice “shooter insurance policy” but he isn’t much more than that, an inusrance policy.
-Blake Murphy