When free agency began last summer, it took nearly two months after that for Derrick Jones Jr. to be signed to a one-year, fully-guaranteed veteran minimum contract by the Dallas Mavericks. With the way he’s been playing alongside Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving this season, though, Jones will surely be primed for a decent pay raise come July.
In 36 games, Jones is averaging a career-high 10.3 points on 47.7 percent shooting overall, including a career-high 34.7 percent from 3-point range, while also playing some great defense in the process.
“I take the challenge on whoever I guard, regardless if it’s a big, small, small forward. I take the challenge every day, and I go out there and I do what I got to do. I try to make it a difficult night as much as I can whenever I can.”
His latest effort was in the Mavs’ 115-108 clutch win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday, as he finished with 12 points, 10 rebounds, one steal and three blocks in 35 minutes. Despite only shooting 1-6 from deep, Luka Doncic and company never lost faith in Jones and continued to look for him down the stretch. He soared for a huge rebound in the final minute, and then threw down a massive dunk that essentially sealed the game for Dallas.
“[Out of the timeout], they told me to shoot the ball again. When I caught the ball, I saw Rudy [Gobert] was caught up with Dwight [Powell] so I saw a free lane,” Jones said.
After starting the season with a defense that ranked near the bottom of the league, the Mavs, despite having battled through several injuries, have the third-best defensive rating in the NBA over their last 10 games. According to Mavs head coach Jason Kidd, Jones has been a big part of that turnaround.
"One, when you're small, you've got to figure out -- if you can't protect the rim, you've got to do something,” Kidd said of his team’s size disadvantage on most nights. “The deflections, being aggressive, trying to not let stars play sometimes, trying to have the ball find other guys and being able to rebound. The guys really have taken to that and understanding they're following the gameplan and the trust is there between the coaches and players.”
Jones is not afraid to do the dirty work and guard an opponent’s best player, and because of that mentality, he’s endeared himself to not only the Mavs’ fan base, but also to Doncic as one of his favorite teammates.
“When you look at D. Jones (Derrick Jones Jr.), he hasn't really had anything written or talked about but his play defensively every night -- he has no choice but to guard the best offensive player and he never complains,” Kidd said.
“The beauty of this team -- a small thing tonight -- he had a great look at the 3 to close the game. When we came into the huddle, maybe to run a different play, and Luka said, 'Let's run the same things. Let's give it to D. Jones, he's going to knock this one down.'
“That's what this team is built on. Not just Luka and Kai (Kyrie Irving) but our role players are playing at a high level right now and D. Jones is one of those guys defensively and offensively that we count on."
Doncic and Irving will continue to lead the charge for the Mavs as they try to make the playoffs after missing them entirely last season, but it will be the play of Jones and other key role players that will determine just how high this team’s ceiling is.
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