How is Derrick Jones JR a journeyman?

[pipfan]

Loved him in Chi, but we mostly played him at back up center, which was crazy. Glad he's found a spot in Dallas

When Lonzo played, Chi was SO exciting-TONS of dunks (Lavive, DJJ, JGreen, Caruso, DDR) and lots of highlights. Too bad it was such a short run

[og15]

He only started shooting over 32% from 3PT two seasons ago, that's certainly going to cause a SF to be a journeyman in the current NBA.

Also I can't imagine he hasn't made improvements to other aspects of his game since being a 19 year old rookie. He wasn't trying to be a defensive stopper earlier in his career as far as I remember, but he has the tools and has embraced that role.

[cupcakesnake]

I think it's the improved 3-pt shooting combined with being on a team where his value a lob threat and utility defender fits so perfectly.

In some of his previous stops, he just felt 1 tool short of being a good rotation player. The rosters he was one were more desperate for spacing, and had less ability to maximize his offensive tools.

Dallas has a crap ton of shot creation coming out of their guards. DJJ was always able to provide value, but on this roster the fit is immaculate and no real drawback to playing him, especially with the uptick in 3s.

[Michael Jackson]

During the season, I looked up why the Bulls let him go and found social media posts where Bulls fans wanted to keep him. How did they not play him more/retain him? How did Miami of all teams not keep him? This can't simply be a case of being in a (much) better situation that unlocks his best talents.

The vast majority of the Bulls board likes him I’d say. The village idiots in charge played him mostly as a center, or PF. Patrick Williams got tons of entitlement minutes at the 4, and then Bill D loved Javonte Green at PF…another out of position, undersized guy much like DJJ.

I was happy he left, but for his sake because I like what he brings. Just about always a solid performer in his role, yet they always jerked his minutes around.

This sums it up and they went and used his roster spot and filled it with some size.... oh wait they didn't, well I guess Craig is a little bit bigger.

[jokeboy86]

Watched this guy in college and I was excited when the Suns signed him coming into the league. He only played half season at UNLV, but dude was breathtaking. Then James Jones waived him so we could promote Mike Jones to the main roster for 2 weeks smh

Suns waived him so they could promote who?

[Pattycakes]

He was often times unplayable in Portland offensively, but he was not the worst.

[zimpy27]

NBA is hard, once you're not that guy then it can be hard to change peoples minds, even in the face of lots of evidence. New place and more exposure helps a lot. If DJJ just had this season on the Lakers then he's getting 15m per season in the offseason

[MrGoat]

I think it's the improved 3-pt shooting combined with being on a team where his value a lob threat and utility defender fits so perfectly.

In some of his previous stops, he just felt 1 tool short of being a good rotation player. The rosters he was one were more desperate for spacing, and had less ability to maximize his offensive tools.

Dallas has a crap ton of shot creation coming out of their guards. DJJ was always able to provide value, but on this roster the fit is immaculate and no real drawback to playing him, especially with the uptick in 3s.

Honestly Nico Harrison gets too much credit for this signing. Around the time the Mavs were looking on the pile for a minimum guy to add you saw his name thrown around a lot on Mavs boards just because he was such an obvious fit for the team, even with the offensive warts that weren't even as bad as expected in Dallas. He was good on defense for Miami too and was part of Spo's rotation while he was there, his offense was always the sticking point and Miami wasn't the best place for him to hide that. When he started the season hot from deep he was solidified as a most of the time starter when most at the time thought that spot was going to go to Josh Green. And thanks to drafting Dereck Lively the Mavs weren't going to ask him to play center like Chicago did

[Mavrelous]

I didn't follow him closely before, but I never saw him mentioned as the elite perimeter defender he is, on offense, runs the fast break, rolls, cuts and sometimes shoots, his decision making cab be problematic at times, he's fine in a system where he doesn't need to make decisions.

[durden_tyler]

Best fit for offensive oriented backcourt/wings like Luka and Kyrie.

Should be the key player in the OKC series since his length and athleticism will be crucial in slowing down SGA. Even if he does not contribute on offense and limit SGA to below 20 pts majority of the series, he’ll help Dallas beat the Thunder.

[Mallie]

Watched this guy in college and I was excited when the Suns signed him coming into the league. He only played half season at UNLV, but dude was breathtaking. Then James Jones waived him so we could promote Mike Jones to the main roster for 2 weeks smh

Suns waived him so they could promote who?

Niiiice

[SlovenianDragon]

Derrick Jones Jr blows...he will be on another team soon enough...

[SweaterBae]

He averages 8/3/1 in 23 minutes a game. He averaged 8/3/1 4 years ago in Miami in...23 minutes a game. Pretty much the definition of a journeyman.

He can't shoot or dribble or create.

[RB34]

Not sure but he’s one of the guys that amazes me every time I watch him. He has legitimate freak of nature athleticism.

[Curtis Lemansky]

I think he would have been a perfect fit at Denver. I still cannot wrap my head around why Denver felt the need to sign Reggie Jackson for 5 mil

[maverick_41]

Dallas system is like Nash's Suns or Kidd's Nets:
players flourish and thriving to land big bucks contracts.

[chilluminati]

He's in a place where the team plays off of his strengths. They aren't running him out of position just because he can jump high and sometimes has shooting slumps. They aren't making him just stand in a corner or relegating him to being just a defender. And most importantly he's not just hunting for positioning in the dunker spot anymore, he's being used correctly.

[hauntedcomputer]

He is great at vet min. Mavs will pay him Hardaway money and then regret in a year and a half. Rinse and repeat.

[BruttoNostra]

What an odd post. He averages 8/3/1 in 23 minutes a game. He averaged 8/3/1 4 years ago in Miami in...23 minutes a game. Dude is barely a journeyman.

He can't shoot or dribble or create. Why is this a question?

Oh, I see, Dallas stan pimping someone who is the same player he was in 2016.

Yea, I think his offensive stats are secondary to his defensive presence.
His rim pressure is also valuable to the offense and not always appears in the box score.

[Andri]

He has improved, but also he is making a higher % of assisted FGM versus previous years, thanks to the looks generated by Luka and Kyrie. He also brings, length aside in the defensive side, athleticism finishing around the rim.

As someone said, he has adjusted to a role that suits him better. Let's see if he believes he can prove he's worth another kind or he sticks to this one for the rest of his career