James Jones to be free agent. Thoughts?

[Roy H.]

Posey plays defense. Jones does not (although he may try).

very true.

I never thought Jones was a bad defender.  It was actually my opinion he was a pretty good defender this past season.  Hmmm... maybe I'll have to pay more attention to him next season wherever he plays.  I remember not thinking too highly of his defense when he played in Phoenix, but that could have just been the system.  I mean they were instructed by their coach to avoid fouling players as best as possible.

No, I agree.  James Jones is an above-average defender.  I don't know where the reputation "he doesn't play defense" came from; I'd never heard that before.

[Marcus13]

I think he's a good utility player to bring off the bench.  I think he's a better backup for Ray than whoever it was supposed to be this year

[energyking1]

I think he's a good utility player to bring off the bench.  I think he's a better backup for Ray than whoever it was supposed to be this year

we didnt have a true backup for ray, it was a mixup of delonte/pierce/von wafer
I agree he'd be a great backup for ray

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010%E2%80%9311_Boston_Celtics_season

barely any depth at the shooting guard position

[Marcus13]

I think he's a good utility player to bring off the bench.  I think he's a better backup for Ray than whoever it was supposed to be this year

we didnt have a true backup for ray, it was a mixup of delonte/pierce/von wafer
I agree he'd be a great backup for ray

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010%E2%80%9311_Boston_Celtics_season

barely any depth at the shooting guard position

Yeah, I love Delonte.  He's actually one of my favorite players on the team already, but he can't be counted on with injuries and Wafer seems to not be on Doc's good side

[cman88]

we've never really had a reliable backup for ray allen.

we need to get someone reliable to backup not only Ray at the SG spot, but delonte west...he's an important peice of his bench, but hes injury prone so you want to keep his minutes down, plus chances are he'll miss time at some point in the season.

wafer never really found his 3 point shot last year...

[CoachBo]

Certainly would make the call myself. Good defender, good perimeter guy. Definitely would be interested.

[action781]

Posey plays defense. Jones does not (although he may try).

very true.

I never thought Jones was a bad defender.  It was actually my opinion he was a pretty good defender this past season.  Hmmm... maybe I'll have to pay more attention to him next season wherever he plays.  I remember not thinking too highly of his defense when he played in Phoenix, but that could have just been the system.  I mean they were instructed by their coach to avoid fouling players as best as possible.

No, I agree.  James Jones is an above-average defender.  I don't know where the reputation "he doesn't play defense" came from; I'd never heard that before.

OK, good, so I haven't just been imagining it, haha.  In my book, Jones is a good defender on tall, perimeter based small forwards.  A pretty decent choice to have guard Lebron, Pierce, Granger, Gay, etc. where he seems to make up for lack of quickness by knowing the appropriate distance to keep himself from the player so that he doesn't get beat off the dribble, but is still close enough (and long enough) to contest jumpers.  A really important knack to have as a perimeter defender.

I was continually shocked not seeing him play in the Finals.

[Lucky17]

James Jones defensive rating (DRTG) last season was 107. He logged more minutes than anyone else on the Heat other than LeBron, Wade, or Bosh.

Among his Miami teammates, he was tied with Mike Bibby, and ranked slightly better than only Juwan Howard (at 109, the lowest DRTG).

As a team, Miami scored a DRTG of 103.5, good for 5th best in the league. Portland, with a team DRTG of 107.1, ranked 14th in the league.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/MIA/2011.html

By these metrics, I think it's fair to say that he is at best an average defender.

BTW, Jones did not play in the Finals due to a foot injury.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/711193-nba-playoffs-2011-schedule-results-and-bold-playoff-predictions/entry/86770-nba-playoffs-2011-miami-heats-james-jones-battling-foot-and-toe-injuries

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

James Jones.  6 ft 8 in, 215 lbs.  Could he be like a james posey? Dont know if we can afford him....

  Jones from Miami? Isn't he the guy that put the hit on Rondo's arm in game 5? He's got the nasty streak Posey has, if that's who you mean.

No, it was Wade who caused Rondo's arm injury.

As for Jones, it would be nice to have another 3-point shooter, but I'm not sure what else he brings. I'm open to the possibility of bringing back Pavlovic as the third-string SF; he too is a pretty good 3-point shooter, and from what I know, his D is better than that of Jones. As for a backup 2, there's Delonte and possibly Moore, so maybe Jones would be a good fit as a backup 2/3.

[Celticai]

I'm guessing that if we let BBD walk, Green will play the PF more than he did this season. So James Jones at the SF is not a bad idea. I think he could also play the PF, if we want to stretch the defense with his 3s.
Just think about the combination of him and Ray on the floor together, along with PP. It could rain 3s from all over the place (At a high percentage!).
I actually think that James Jones is a very underrated player. He was very good playing in Indiana.
And Ray wasn't considered a very good defender until he reached the Celtics.

[action781]

James Jones defensive rating (DRTG) last season was 107. He logged more minutes than anyone else on the Heat other than LeBron, Wade, or Bosh.

Among his Miami teammates, he was tied with Mike Bibby, and ranked slightly better than only Juwan Howard (at 109, the lowest DRTG).

As a team, Miami scored a DRTG of 103.5, good for 5th best in the league. Portland, with a team DRTG of 107.1, ranked 14th in the league.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/MIA/2011.html

By these metrics, I think it's fair to say that he is at best an average defender.

BTW, Jones did not play in the Finals due to a foot injury.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/711193-nba-playoffs-2011-schedule-results-and-bold-playoff-predictions/entry/86770-nba-playoffs-2011-miami-heats-james-jones-battling-foot-and-toe-injuries

By those metrics, Zydrunas Ilgauskas (102 in a lot of minutes) is also an equal defender to Lebron James (102) and a better defender than Joel Anthony (104).  So, I think there's a flaw in that metric.  It's very very very difficult to quantify an individual player's defense (I've essentially given up and mostly rely on the eye).  For instance, Chicago could have the best PG defender in the world on their bench, but if he plays enough minutes on the second string alongside Kyle Korver, there's no chance that the PG comes out with a good defensive rating.

I can probably explain why Miami's ratings are how they are.  Ilgauskas started most games so logged most of his minutes playing alongside Wade and Lebron - the team's two top defenders.  James Jones is a wing, so whenever he came into the game, it was usually to substitute in for either Wade or Lebron.  Even though I think the metric is flawed, it still does make me wonder why it the rating is as low as it is. 

Also, nothing major, but FYI Mario Chalmers logged more min than James Jones last season.  And I think you meant Carlos Arroyo instead of Juwan Howard.

[Army_of_One_Nation]

I remember his game when he was with the Suns and Nash dishing out those passes out on the arc for his shooters. He needs to have a pass first point to be truly successful. With the team that Miami had, there was really no way he would shine for the whole season.

He could be a "Microwave" Johnson for teams looking to sign him.

[housecall]

He got a little nasty in his game and can hit the three.All depends on what a team needs.If the price is right sign him up.

[mc34]

JJ is only a spot up shooter who cashed in on all the doubles created by Wade/LBJ.

This. And before anyone says it, no, Paul/Ray/KG do not consistently command double teams at this point

[syfy9]

JJ is only a spot up shooter who cashed in on all the doubles created by Wade/LBJ.

This. And before anyone says it, no, Paul/Ray/KG do not consistently command double teams at this point

What? In the Heat series, Ray was doubled team coming out of the screen almost every time, with his man and usually the defending PG of Rondo. This happens because that PG can sag off of him enough to come double team when Ray pops out using the screen.

You have me at Pierce and KG, they don't consistently get double teamed at this point of their career.