Last season, one of the highlights of the Dallas Mavericks’ spectacular end-of-season journey which later turned into a marathon all the way to the NBA Finals was the play of Derrick Jones Jr.
Despite being a veteran minimum signing, Jones Jr. became the starting wing next to Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, and he quickly outplayed the one-year deal that he signed with the Mavs a few months prior. His Mavericks career started slow, as he only played 22.4 minutes per game in October in November, but he quickly turned into an essential role player and averaged 28.9 minutes per game in December. His role fluctuated some as the season went on, but once the postseason hit, it was go time.
In the playoffs, Jones Jr. saw his role and minutes grow significantly, as he started in all 22 playoff games that Dallas played in and played 29.4 minutes per game in these contests. His athleticism and outstanding perimeter defense were two of the staples of his game, and he was a major fan favorite by the time the season was over as he was an essential piece for the Mavs all playoffs long. His defense on the league’s stars combined with his thunderous slams made him a player you could never take your eyes off of, but Jones Jr.’s time with the Mavs was shortlived.
Clippers are realizing Jones Jr. isn’t a consistent 3-point shooter
To the devastation of many fans, Jones Jr. signed with the LA Clippers over the offseason after originally making it clear that he’d like to return to Dallas. Jones Jr. had a great start to the season in LA when it comes to shooting the three-ball as he shot 44.2 percent over his first 15 games as a Clipper, but LA is being forced to make a certain realization about him that Mavs fans already knew.
Jones Jr. has cooled off from three, as he has shot 26.5 percent from downtown since that 15-game mark, and Clippers fans are starting to see that he isn’t as reliable of a shooter as they once believed. Despite being able to knock down wide-open threes within the flow of the offense on occasion, he isn’t the type of player that you want taking a high volume of threes and relying upon him to make a major impact in this area. His game remains to be an athletic defensive-minded wing who is an excellent finisher above the rim, especially as a backside lob catcher, but his 3-point shooting isn’t something you should rely upon on a nightly basis.
Mavericks fans know that Jones Jr.’s shooting came through in big moments like when he drilled 7-11 threes over Dallas’ final two games against the Oklahoma City Thunder to help punch their ticket to their first Western Conference Finals appearance since 2011, but they also knew deep down that this wasn’t something to be expected regularly.
Jones Jr. has still grown tremendously as a shooter over the last two years, as he has shot 34.6 percent from three in Dallas and LA after shooting 30.4 percent from three at all of his previous stops, but he isn’t the volume shooter that Clippers fans may have thought he was after watching his first few weeks with the team. Once again, he is one of the best 3-and-D wings in the NBA who Mavs fans would have loved to have back this season, but the Clippers faithful should calm their expectations when it comes to his jump shot.
Leave a Reply