The Golden State Warriors traded center Damian Jones after just 49 career games with the Dubs. Sadly, Jones’ stint in the Bay was largely altered by injury.
While many weren’t a fan of the uber-athletic Damian Jones, the Golden State Warriors management and Steve Kerr were. They displayed faith with him throughout his third season. However, an untimely injury limited his stay in the Bay.
Jones was recently dealt to the Atlanta Hawks along with a future second round for Omari Spellman. With Kevon Looney and Willie Cauley-Stein in the frontcourt, Jones’ size wasn’t necessarily needed.
Never making a memorable impact, Jones was sidelined just 24 games into the season, starting 22 of them. Chosen to be the Dubs starting center on opening night, Jones was trusted by Kerr, and in the time he was alotted, Jones returned the favor.
Jones wasn’t the most volume scoring threat the Warriors had, but that’s also not what they needed him to do. They needed him to protect the rim. They needed him to use his athleticism to hunker down the paint. He did that.
Then, on the offensive end, he did what was asked as well.
He shot 72% from the field and collected almost three rebounds per 36 minutes. This was by no means a bad stretch of play from Jones, and if his injury hasn’t happened, he may be a Warrior today.
In a game against the Detroit Pistons at the start of December, Jones tore his left pectoral muscle. That caused him to miss the remainder of the regular season. While he did return in the playoffs, the 7-footer looked like a ghost of the player he once was.
Jones, in the four postseason games he saw any time in, averaged just two minutes per game. Making his only shot attempt, Jones wasn’t useful often by Kerr, and it was obvious as to why: the evolution of Kevon Looney and the sluggish Jones trying to re-find the speed of the NBA.
It’s sad. The Bay may have never known the true potential of Jones. The injury hurt his career, but thankfully, he’ll get a new start in Atlanta. Although his time in the Bay didn’t work out, hopefully, he’ll rebound.
We wish Jones the best in this new chapter of his career.