Derrick Jones Jr., Mavericks Agree to 1-Year Contract After 2 Seasons with Bulls
Derrick Jones Jr. has signed a fully guaranteed one-year deal with the Dallas Mavericks, per Shams Charania of Stadium and The Athletic, who provided more details:
The 26-year-old forward has played seven NBA seasons, including his last two with the Chicago Bulls. He averaged 5.0 points on 50.0 percent shooting and 2.4 rebounds in 14.0 minutes per game in 64 contests off the bench last year.
Jones played for the Phoenix Suns, Miami Heat and Portland Trail Blazers before joining the Bulls via trade in Aug. 2021.
Jones told K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago in April that he planned to remain with the Bulls.
"Like I told Coach (Billy Donovan) and everybody else, I'm locked in for two years. I didn't sign for two years for no reason. So I'm here for two years," Jones Jr. said. "I just gotta sit down with my agent and talk to him, figure things out. But I don't see why not. I got no other plans, yet."
However, plans changed, and Jones turned down his $3.3 million player option for the 2023-24 campaign in June to become a free agent.
Now he's with Dallas, which has made a concerted effort to improve its two biggest 2022-23 deficiencies in defense (24th in defensive rating) and rebounding (second-last in rebounding rate).
Adding Jones certainly helps with both, especially on defense.
"I just love guarding," Jones Jr. told Johnson in April. "That's one thing I learned in my career: Defense wins championships. I want to be All-Defensive team one day. I feel like I could do it. I just need the right opportunity and proper amount of minutes."
Jones is so versatile that Bulls head coach Billy Donovan notably used the 6'6" forward as a backup center at times. It remains to be seen how Jason Kidd will use him in Dallas, but he has options with Jones aboard.
Jones isn't as known for his offensive game, but he's efficient on that end and can bring the house down on one play thanks to his high-flying abilities. The 2020 Slam Dunk contest winner once said he had a 46-inch vertical, per Johnson.
He's one of many newcomers in Dallas alongside players such as veterans Grant Williams and Seth Curry and rookies Dereck Lively II and Olivier-Maxence Prosper.
