Rockets NBA Draft preview: Notre Dame point guard Demetrius Jackson

One of the names that could be available for the Rockets with their two second round picks just might be Notre Dame point guard Demetrius Jackson. NBADraft.net has the Rockets picking him up with the 37th overall pick, while other sites have him as a mid-first rounder.

Of course, anything can happen in the NBA Draft. Just look to last year when Sam Dekker was supposed to be a lottery pick but ended up falling all the way to the Rockets at 18. Jackson is no lock to be drafted by the Rockets, but it's best that Red Nation learns a little about him so if it does happen you aren't caught flat-footed trying to scramble learning about him.

With Mike D'Antoni now coaching the Rockets, GM Daryl Morey and the rest of the front office are certainly looking for players that will fit into his system. As of now, the Rockets have one point guard under contract — for this purpose James Harden is not a PG — Patrick Beverley is it. They need more bodies back there. Jeremy Lin is not the only solution.

Beverley is an improving three-point shooter and getting better as an offensive player overall. But it still seems like he is a square peg that D'Antoni will be trying to fit into a round hole. If he can't find a role, the Rockets might really be in dire straits for guys who can handle the ball next year.

Jackson could be that answer. When looking at his highlights, Jackson seems like someone that would fit in very well with the run and gun, speedball that D'Antoni will look to unleash. Jackson is excellent at getting into the lane and is able to go strong to the rim. As a 6'1-and-change point guard, he is able to catch lobs and dunk the ball. He has some really surprising explosion.

"One thing I have been really working on is tightening up my ball handling," Jackson told DraftExpress during his pre-draft workout, "making sure I'm sharp, every single thing is sharp, and also exploding into my shot."

Looking at the way Jackson goes into the land of giants so fearlessly he reminds me of Isaiah Canaan a little bit. Canaan was listed at 6'1 but he's really about 5'10ish and, if he were a true 6'1 like Jackson, he might have been able to dunk just as well. NBAdraft.net compares Jackson to former Rockets point guard Jonny Flynn (insert shudder here) but I'll stick with my Canaan comparison.

Jackson may not be the lights out three-point shooter that Canaan was, but he does have some catch-and-shoot game. Jackson also looks to have some really good defensive fundamentals and is a pretty annoying defender.

"Being a two-way player on both ends of the floor, leading the team as a point guard, and doing the things a point guard needs to do on the offensive end," Jackson shared with DraftExpress about what he can bring to a team day one. "Defensively, picking up guys 90 feet, that's something I take pride in, something I wasn't really able to maximize as much this past year, but just showing flashes and whenever we really needed a defensive spurt just making sure we got that done."

If Jackson was 6'4-6'5, he might be a top-five pick. Being a shorter point guard, it drops him to the mid first/early second round. Jackson has a lot of skill and seems and could be an interesting prospect in Houston.