Trade & FA 2024-25:

[KillerLeft]

Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t you used to say the same thing about Jones…that he was a four.  I had that conversation with someone a while back and I thought it was you.

Yeah, that was me, except that was a completely different situation. This was all part of the conversation that we had back then, but I will recap:

DJJ obviously has the body/athletic profile of a 3, but he had really never gotten a chance to play that position in his entire NBA career, and instead was relegated as basically a backup BIG (this is true). Seriously, he was being used as a screener off of the deep bench. Why? Because he could not shoot.

Now, that’s a completely different situation than the one we are talking about now. Drastically different.

What it took me all year to believe is that Jones was going to keep making his wide, wide, open shots from the perimeter. I never believed the sample size until he kept doing it in he playoffs. Basically, he finally found a way to stay on the floor at the three on offense, giving the world a chance to see his defense consistently. Kudos to him.
 
Having all just witnessed that, what is it that we are trying to improve upon with him right now? It’s still his shooting, because the same people who were arguing with me back then have now realized how important that is. In other words, he shot way, way better than I ever imagined he could, but it was STILL a problem for most people here. 

However, what is undeniably true is this: what worked for the Mavs is BOTH forwards having plus foot speed and athletic ability for their position. I knew Jones offered that, but I didn’t get excited about the signing because I didn’t think he would play (because of shooting). I was wrong about that, but so was the rest of the NBA, remember? He signed at the minimum like a week before training camp if I remember correctly. My take back then was that he had almost fallen out of the league because his offensive skillset only allowed him to be played out of position. Leading up to that time, that information was correct. That IS how he had been used in past. 

So, what has changed is that Jones has continued to improve his offensive skillset. 

What I am saying in the context of this current (Harris) conversation is that the forwards, especially with Luka at guard, need to be athletic pluses at their positions. In my opinion, BOTH of them need to be quicker, faster, and more athletic than Tobias Harris, but I think he’d be fine coming off the bench. Washington is quick and athletic, but not relative to Jones. However, he is stronger than Jones. 

They both need to be able to defend up in size. They both need to be able to defend down in size. But, you need a little bit of difference in those two guys so that you can extend the entire spectrum of matchups that are possible on either end. So, one of them needs to be able to defend more up in size than the other, and the other needs to be able to defend more down in size than the first one. to my mind, PJ and DJJ just accomplished this balance BEAUTIFULLY, and exactly the way I have been begging the Mavericks to try for literally over a decade now.

Some people look at Washington and think he is wanting for size, so they say “he must be able to play the three.“ While, that’s technically true, and you can put them out there at any position you wish relative to the other players, I have worked very hard to get past that type of thinking, as I believe it is extremely sophomoric and surface level analysis. I don’t think Washington is undersized at all, and when he goes up against slightly bigger players, I believe that is a huge advantage for him. I don’t believe he is really all that capable of playing small ball five, which is something I had hoped he would be able to do coming into his time here, but I think he is PERFECTLY suited as the 4. He is bigger than some of those matchups, not as big as others, but quicker and faster than almost all of them. That’s where you want your matchups to be.

Jones is special as the smaller, quicker forward spot (again, if he can shoot well enough to play at the same time as a center) because he is so much longer than 99% of the guys he’s going to match up with there. I think people see him shut people down in certain matchups and think it is ONLY his length making that possible, but his foot speed and agility are what puts the length in the right position. This is exceedingly rare in combination. I have tried like heck to think of someone who might be available who has some chance of replicating this, only with better shooting, and the only possible person I can think of is Jeremi Grant, who might need to play PJ’s role at this point, himself. 

While I was wrong about Jones’ shooting making him unplayable, I think the way those forwards played off of each other, defensively, pretty much proves the point I’m trying to make (and have for years). It was the best defense this team has had during the Luka era. 

So, I was wrong… But really, I was right. Different parts of the same conversation.

And for what it’s worth, I personally would not put it past Jones to improve as a shooter before next season. He certainly shot better this season than I ever thought he would. Given the choice between hoping that happens, or hoping some dude like Tobias Harris can keep up… I know which I would choose.