Trail Blazers forward Derrick Jones Jr. is set to exercise his $9.7MM player option for 2021/22, per Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
The 6’5″ forward, 24, was a role player during his first season with Portland. After going undrafted out of UNLV in 2016, the athletic Jones first caught on with the Suns before eventually linking up for a three-season stint with the Heat, which included a 2020 NBA Finals run.
Jones’s offensive contributions with the Trail Blazers this past season were fairly modest, but he made an effective impact as a versatile defender. He averaged 6.8 PPG, 3.5 RPG, and 0.9 BPG across 22.7 MPG during the regular season. Jones suited up for 58 contests with the team, including 43 starts, falling out of the rotation down the stretch.
With Jones now in the fold, the Trail Blazers have eight players on fully guaranteed contracts for the upcoming season. Center Jusuf Nurkic‘s $12MM deal with the club is partially guaranteed, but he’s unlikely to be waived, despite being healthy for just 45 of a possible 146 games during his last two seasons with Portland.
Starting Portland shooting guard Norman Powell, who had an $11.6MM player option ahead of the 2021/22 season, declined his player option last week.
The Trail Blazers decided to not extend a $7MM qualifying offer to injury-prone power forward Zach Collins, thus making him an unrestricted free agent. Collins has appeared in just 154 of a possible 310 games across his four NBA seasons.
DJJ seems like so much raw talent and potential, but not sure he’ll ever really put it all together. He was buried on the bench by Stotts, and that clearly ticked off Olshey, so I’m guessing he gets another shot at big minutes this year – if he isn’t traded.
DJJ isn’t why Stotts got fired
Sounds like the wrong guy won with Olshey v Stotts.
Jones may be better with a year’s experience, but he was never going to be much help this past year… and for $10m!
Get Harkless back if you miss Harkless (and Aminu).
Actually Jones Jr was given all the opportunities he could have & his play on the court dictated that his playing time decreased from a significant role to minor roll on the team.
That’s terry stotts fault. Wouldn’t happen under someone like Thibodeaux.
Yes both stotts and olshey need to go.
Olshey probably thought he had the problem licked with the personnel he brought in at forward, but they were not intuitive/smart enough for Stotts and probably Lillard too.
So Olshey brings in Billups who was known for leading on-court a team to an NBA title which was not well-respected mentally, but for all the wrong reasons. The Pistons were not a wild dumb team IMO like often seemed, despite Sheed’s oppositional behavior, Prince not fully knowing how to use his length (nobody did then), etc.
Anyway Billups may not be ideal for what Olshey wants from him, and Lillard can only be placated by his professionalism for so long. Not a losing team but limited as usual as the year rolls.
If DJJ is going to be a rotation piece for Blazers next season what message does that send to Dame (and his request to improve the roster). Bye bye Dame.
Hes a unreliable/ poor shooter, ball handler, and passer, and Niel Olshey paid him the full MLE. NOT SURE whats worse DJJ OR OLSHEY??
Expecting a much better year from him in yr2
I don’t expect anything different from Jones Jr & his play dictated that he be dropped on the depth chart
Hey It’s difficult being a defensive energy player on Portland
It takes team defense
Jones was brought in by Olshey to be a top defensive piece & the Blazers still had one of the worst defenses in the NBA, OH YEAH Olshey also brought in Covington to be another big defensive piece & both Jones & Covington failed at improving the Blazer Defense
Maybe because Dame & CJ can’t even defend a 90 year old grandma!
What can these two do when the other 3 players don’t play a lick of defense to save their flipping life!!!