Over the next week, the Philadelphia 76ers are going to give a young center a shot to make the roster. After working out and meeting with former Charlotte Hornets center Kai Jones last week, the Sixers decided to bring on the young veteran on a temporary contract.
On Friday, the Sixers announced the acquisition. For the next ten days, Jones will be available to Nick Nurse, who has a lot of question marks surrounding his undermanned rotation.
If Jones is ready to go as early as Saturday, he’ll get an opportunity to suit up against his former team, the Charlotte Hornets.
Coming out of the University of Texas in 2021, Jones became the 19th overall pick in the NBA Draft. Although he was selected by the New York Knicks, his draft rights were handed over to the Hornets on the night of the draft.
For two seasons, Jones was a reserve on the Hornets. During his rookie effort, he played in 21 games, averaging just three minutes on the court.
Last season, Jones appeared in 46 games. Picking up a more prominent reserve role, Jones averaged 12 minutes on the floor. During that time, he produced 3.4 points per game while coming down with 2.7 rebounds per game. From the field, Jones averaged 56 percent. From the charity stripe, he averaged 73 percent.
Jones’ stint with the Hornets ended prematurely heading into the 2023-2024 season. Due to off-court behavior, specifically on social media, Jones eventually found himself waived by Charlotte. Throughout the majority of the 2023-2024 season, Jones remained a free agent and garnered little interest on the market.
The Sixers will offer him a look. As Philadelphia is missing its starting center Joel Embiid, they have been relying on the combination of Paul Reed and Mo Bamba. While both bigs showed some decent flashes over the past month, it’s clear the Sixers could use some help at the five. The 23-year-old Kai Jones will get a chance to state his case to return to the NBA.
Jones becomes the second 10-day signee for the Sixers this season. He joins the team a couple of weeks after the veteran Darius Bazley received a look. Beyond his short stint, Bazley returned to the NBA G League before getting called up by the Utah Jazz.
Jones will attempt to avoid making that a trend for the 76ers.
The Sixers and the Hornets will battle it out at 7 PM ET on Saturday.
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