After the Mavericks were defeated by Boston in the NBA Finals last month, head of basketball operations Nico Harrison referred to re-signing Derrick Jones as the team’s “priority 1A and 1B.” When the team agreed to trade Tim Hardaway Jr. to Detroit in a cost-cutting move prior to free agency, it seemingly paved the way for Jones to return, but the defensive-minded wing signed with the Clippers instead.
Asked by Mike Curtis of The Dallas Morning News (subscription required), why Jones didn’t end up back in Dallas and whether his 11th-hour agent change was a factor, Harrison suggested it wasn’t the Mavs’ decision to move on.
“Honestly, it’s a better question for him to answer,” Harrison said. “I mean, I don’t know. I guess he liked L.A. better than Dallas.”
Harrison admitted that he was somewhat surprised by Jones’ decision.
“Yeah,” he said. “But honestly, we have Naji (Marshall) and I’m excited about Naji. I did say (Jones) was 1A and 1B, and that’s how we approached it. That’s how we approached him for the whole year, in terms of how we approached him with respect and the love that we showed him and also the play that he had with our guys. He deserved it too, but he made his own choice. And we have Naji. We’re excited about Naji.”
Here are a few more highlights from Harrison’s conversation with Curtis:
On what new additions Marshall and Quentin Grimes will bring to Dallas:
“Naji’s a really good basketball player … He’ll be a really physical defender, which we’ve got good defense, but not physical. And he’s a physical (player), but he’s a good basketball player. He can shoot. He can really handle the ball. He’ll be able to drive the close out and he can make plays. So I think his skill level is kind of better than people know. And then Quentin, defensively, he’s elite and he can handle the ball and can shoot.”
On why he thinks the Mavericks, who don’t have a strong track record of landing impact free agents, appealed to Klay Thompson:
“I think winning. But before you get to the winning is the culture that we’re creating. I think when you create the right culture and people thrive in it, then I think people in the league take notice. They want to be a part of it.”
On how he expects Thompson to fit alongside Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving:
“In terms of a basketball player, he’s one who’s relentless and has a crazy work ethic. He’s one of the best shooters the game has. I’m excited. Excited to have my team. And he’s a winner, too. I think we now have one of the best shooters in the NBA, maybe the best. And you add that to Luka and Kyrie, it’s only going to open up the floor. I think he opens up the floor for them and they open up the floor for him. I really think it’s a really good combination.”
On having made a series of changes to a roster that just appeared in the NBA Finals:
“It’s not like we added another ball-dominant scorer. We added complementary pieces that are really good. So I think you got to get better if you want to get back to where you were. If you just sit there, idling … the West is tough. Everybody in the West is getting better. You got to figure out how you can do it without disrupting the core makeup of the team because you don’t want to start training camp in ground zero. Now you bring in a few fresh faces, people that are additive they can fit in to what we’re already doing.”
I like Nico, hes a gunslinger by todays standards but I’m not sold on the Klay fit
They almost cant have Klay Irving Luka all together on defense for long stretches’ and I don’t think Klays ego is going to accept if/when the worm turns. Kidd will try to draw up plays for Klay but by May they’ll be a pure afterthought and I just see him as a glorified spot up shooter
I think Klay knows what he is at this point, sadly he just needed a change of scenery. He was trying to be more than he is as a way to gain respect. He’ll be fine with being a glorified spot up shooter, that’s was all he ever was on offense, probably the greatest spot up shooter of all time but still a spot up shooter. As far as fit? He opens up the lane for Luka’s drives by giving him an outlet and if opponents come too close it’ll means more lobs for Gafford and Lively.
He’s not nearly as good on defense as he once was but if the matchup calls for Marshall to be out there instead of Thompson he’ll have to accept it.
I worry about that last sentence but agree he can help space the offence as you state. My main concern was all 3 of them together on defense, regular season Kidd can probably juggle it, playoffs I cant see it
Naji for DJJ basically like for like.
Grimes for Green again almost like for like.
Then Klay for THJ that’s a massive W.
Klay is going to have to play as a SF and on a new team in a new city, that’ll take some adjusting to for him. Ultimately tho it’s a good decision on his part, because he has the height and size for it and defensively it’s going to be better for him instead of chasing perimeter guards he will have slower bigger bodies which helps him as he slows down. His off ball catch and shoot style will work well aswell playing off two ball dominant players.
Naji I’m a big fan of, think he’s got great potential and will out preform DJJ.
Grimes offers more scoring than Green but less defence.
Ultimately tho it’s Kyrie Luka PJ with one of these three wings and one of their two bigs. It’s well constructed for their style. The worry for them is Luka and Kyries lack of defence, if they improve on that they could make another real nice run
Mavs not going back to West Finals.
Thank you Nostradamus.
Pretty sure you picked them to lose every series this year too. Didn’t you have the Knicks going to the Eastern conference finals too? I’ll give you this it takes a special kind of person to be wrong all of the time. So hat tip to you and your consistency.
Star free agents going to Dallas?
If we were talking prime Klay it’s a conversation…
Klay was just looking for a workplace that doesn’t reward violent hot heads… And Dallas had the best offer…