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Season Review: Damian Jones

The Kings late acquisition of Jones shored up Sacramento's big man rotation with much needed depth.
By | 20 Comments | Jun 3, 2021

Credit: Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports

The Sacramento Kings had struggled with their backup centers all season. Hassan Whiteside had numbers but wasn’t particularly effective. Chimezie Metu was decent but lacked the size to match up with bigger opponents. The Kings had acquired Chris Silva at the trade deadline, but he barely played before the Kings had seen enough and waived him. But everything fell into place when the Kings signed Damian Jones to a 10-day contract. His combination of size and ability made him an ideal backup center behind Richaun Holmes.

After two successful 10-day contract, the Kings rewarded Jones with a multi-year deal, giving Jones a nice pay raise for the remainder of the year, and giving Sacramento a non-guaranteed option to keep Jones next season.

Jones’ numbers aren’t the stuff of legends, but 6.9 points, 4.5 rebounds 1.4 assists and 1.0 blocks per game is solid production for a low-usage player giving you 20 minutes a night. Add to those stats his defensive presence (opponents shot 6.9% worse from inside 6 feet compared to their season averages when guarded by Jones, per NBA.com/stats), and you have a solid backup big man.

I hope that Jones can stick around with the Kings next season, and I’ll be surprised if he isn’t. He’s a low cost player who doesn’t need the ball in his hands and finds ways to contribute on both ends of the court. Of Monte McNair’s moves around the fringes, bringing in Damian Jones was a definite success.

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TheGrantNapear
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June 3, 2021 3:50 pm

I have no clue who this guy is, didn’t even know he played for the Kings. 🤷€™‚️

andy_sims
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June 4, 2021 7:00 am
Reply to  TheGrantNapear

Which makes you as ignorant as your namesake.

TheGrantNapear
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June 4, 2021 4:28 pm
Reply to  andy_sims

Always the curmudgeon.

1951
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June 3, 2021 3:54 pm

Dude had some of the best missed dunks of the year!

TheGrantNapear
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June 3, 2021 3:59 pm

OT, but boy are the Grizzlies exactly where we at the very least should be and should’ve been years ago. An ascending star in Ja (Fox), complimentary young big man in JJJ (Bagley) and a slew of drafted contributors with a few vets meshed in for stability with an enforcer in Jonas (Whiteside? lol) and a seasoned steady vet in Slo Mo (Barnes). Brooks even plays a similar role to Hali.
The parallels are there, yet we continue to suck while the future is bright in Memphis. We’ve sucked for a decade and half and Memphis for perhaps a half decade since the demise of Grit and Grind. I guess the big difference as to why they are where they are and we are where we are is Vivek.

https://www.theringer.com/2021/6/3/22465951/memphis-grizzlies-ja-morant

Carl
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June 3, 2021 5:11 pm
Reply to  TheGrantNapear

And the Kings would need an enormous talent infusion from outside the organization to get where the Grizzlies are now. Ugh.

BasketballHella
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June 3, 2021 5:38 pm
Reply to  Carl

It’s amazing to see MPJ going off as well tonight to see things that could have been.

andy_sims
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June 4, 2021 7:03 am

Hindsight sure is wonderful. This place would have been burned down if a college kid who’d had back surgery had been taken at #2.

RobHessing
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June 4, 2021 7:17 am
Reply to  andy_sims

Compared to who they did take?

BasketballHella
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June 4, 2021 7:29 am
Reply to  andy_sims

Haha totally agree but he was on their big board.

Just laughing at how we got the only real bust out of that draft. Even made the wrong choice out of their choices.

RobHessing
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June 4, 2021 7:34 am

We get fixated on Doncic, but it is breathtaking just how bad that pick has become. Without even leaving the lottery, we can find eight players chosen after Bagley (out of 12) that have had better careers to this point, four of whom are big rotation guys on playoff teams heading to the second round this season, two of whom are leading their teams and are all-stars.

The Bowie/Jordan draft has always been a popular comparison for the Bagley pick, but we’ve headed into (and perhaps beyond) Darko Milicic territory. Truly shaping up as one of the worst picks in NBA history when you look at the quantity of alternative options. Easily the worst pick in Kings history, even worse than the Ellison pick (where the best alternative was Sean Elliott, and the most bandied about other name was Stacey King and Danny Ferry (fun fact: Vlade Divac went #26 in the Ellison draft).

Last edited 2 years ago by RobHessing
Adamsite
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Nostradumbass 14
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June 4, 2021 7:48 am
Reply to  RobHessing

So true. Every few months I like to kick myself in the balls and go back and look at the 2018 draft. I reevaluate where Bagley might be taken today in a redraft. I’m now not entirely sure he cracks the top 20…and I’m dead serious about that.

There are a handful of 2nd rounds that have turned out better than him. Jalen Brunson, Devonte’ Graham, Mitchell Robinson, and Kings 2nd round pick Gary Trent Jr. likely go ahead of him now.

BasketballHella
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June 4, 2021 10:49 am
Reply to  Adamsite

I do the same thing and it’s brutal but you hope it’s the rock bottom they needed to wake up Vivek. But as time passes it becomes clear that’s not happening. Any success is going to have to be in-spite of him.

I had the moment of painful realization when they were taking about MPJ during that game last night and it’s almost 4 years since that draft already.

Otis
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June 3, 2021 6:15 pm
Reply to  TheGrantNapear

They play freaking hard at both ends. One noticeable difference.

LandParkJimmer
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June 3, 2021 4:55 pm

Jones over Whiteside everyday. They both are trash however.

BabalooMagoo
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June 3, 2021 4:55 pm

Meh, another 4th or 5th big. Grade:C

Otis
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June 3, 2021 6:16 pm

He’s an interesting guy to look at at the end of the bench. Not expecting much though.

Otis
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June 3, 2021 6:18 pm

I’d like to see Dame go play for Michael Malone so I don’t have to pick whom to root for.

eddie41
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June 4, 2021 6:49 am

He was a good pickup. Probably better than any center who might be available at 9 in this year’s draft, and half the price.

AnybodyButBagley
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June 4, 2021 11:27 am

They cannot afford another big because of how much they have wasted on Bagley. They are auditioning cheap bigs that can give them productive minutes while Bagley robs this team blind.

Jones is a decent potential role player for the price. His reality is much better than Bagley’s potential.

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