For now, Jackson has a new address.

Byline: Ron Bellamy The Register-Guard

Luke Jackson has a new city, a new team and a new number. And no guarantees that they'll all be the same when the NBA season begins next week.

For now, the former University of Oregon basketball star from Creswell is a Boston Celtic, wearing No. 11 - more on that in a moment - and living in a Boston hotel.

The Celtics, who acquired Jackson in a trade with the Cleveland Cavaliers on Oct. 13, still have cuts to make, and two NBA veterans, Paul Pierce and Wally Szczerbiak, ahead of him on the roster, and it's not out of the question that Jackson's stay in Boston will be brief.

"I definitely know that's a possibility," Jackson said by telephone Monday. "But I'm kind of upbeat, either way. I'd love to be in Boston.

"I think it's a good young team, and they want to play up-tempo, which is fun; I think it benefits my style.

"If it doesn't happen here, I'll cross that bridge when it comes. ... I feel there will be an opportunity somewhere."

Indeed, being cut could prove to be a blessing of sorts. Jackson's nearly $2.1 million contract for this season, the third year of the deal he signed with the Cavs, is guaranteed, and as a free agent he might have choices that offer better opportunities for playing time.

If the Celtics decide to keep him, they have until next Tuesday to pick up the option for the fourth year of Jackson's contract.

The 10th player selected in the 2004 NBA Draft, Jackson is the fifth member of that year's first round on the Boston roster, and he was picked ahead of all of them.

"I really liked Luke coming out of college, and I really liked him when he was healthy," Danny Ainge, the former North Eugene High School star who is the Celtics director of basketball operations, said in The Boston Globe.

And Jackson said he's indeed healthy again, after two seasons with the Cavaliers in which he played in just 46 games, had two operations to repair herniated discs and suffered a broken wrist.

"I feel I can contribute," the 6-foot-7 swingman said. "I know it's a long season, and people are going to be injured, and I'm just excited to get a chance here."

That chance came about in a strange way. Although his agent told him that other teams had expressed interest in trading for him, Jackson was still with the Cavaliers on Oct. 13, and in New Hampshire for a preseason game against, in fact, the Celtics, and planning to sign a lease on his Cleveland condo after the road trip.

"It was 10:30 in the morning, and I was just getting ready to go to shoot-around with the Cavs at 11, and (general manager) Danny Ferry called and said, `We just traded you to Boston and we wish you the best.' '

An hour later, Jackson said, he was practicing with the Celtics, and that night he was on the bench against his former team. "It was crazy," he said.

In the deal, the Celtics got a shooter with upside, plus $2 million. The Cavs got center Dwayne Jones, a player Boston would have cut anyway. Since then, Jackson has played in three preseason games with the Celtics, averaging 7.0 minutes and 3.7 points, and hitting all three of his three-point attempts, with final preseason games tonight at New Jersey and Wednesday night at home against Toronto, which includes another former Duck with a new team, Fred Jones.

Jackson, who has old videos of the fabled Celtics, grew up a fan of Boston star Larry Bird and wore Bird's No. 33 at Creswell High School, at Oregon and with Cleveland.

The Celtics have retired that number, however, and 20 others.

"When I got here, I think the only numbers left were, like, 97," Jackson quipped. He settled on No. 11.

"I like it," he said. "It's a good number," adding that his dad, Steve Jackson, pointed out that "stripes are slimming."

Steve Jackson had planned a trip to Cleveland to celebrate Luke's 25th birthday on Nov. 6; now, Steve will go to Cleveland, pack Luke's stuff and drive his car to Boston.

If that's still the right address.