The Golden State Warriors are a team that likes to make trades, and as such have been linked to a number of players on the trade market. One of those players, Herbert Jones, has been a rumored target of the Dubs for years - but trading for him would be an absolute disaster.
Whenever the national media reports on the New Orleans Pelicans, it is for one of two reasons. The first is that Zion Williamson has done something newsworthy, often either dunking the basketball or sustaining an injury. The other reason is to communicate how untouchable every player on their roster is. For being one of the worst teams in the sport, they somehow seem to think their players are all superstars.
One of those players is Herb Jones, a 6'7" combo forward who has been one of the league's better defensive players since he entered the league in 2021. A steal with the 35th pick, Jones entrenched himself as a starter early in his rookie season and has started every game since. Combine that with the Pelicans' high asking price, and the average fan likely assumed Jones is an excellent player.
The truth, unfortunately for Jones, is a fair bit more complicated. He remains a positive defender, able to take on an opponent's most formidable threat on the wing. He is no longer a game-changing force on that end, however, especially as his block rate has plummeted over the last two seasons. Defend 1-on-1? Sure. Rotate around the court like a heat-seeking missile? That part of his game has left, and it's not clear if it will come back.
Jones is already 27 years old, having entered the league at 23. Defense is a young man's game; that doesn't mean he can't be impactful on that end, but he has clearly slipped. And the reason that matters so much is that his offensive game started out poorly and has completely disintegrated over the last two years.
In 2023-24, Jones shot 41.8 percent from deep and 56.8 percent from 2-point range on a Pelicans team that won 49 games and made the playoffs. He looked to have taken a major step forward, and he was one of the more valuable role players in basketball because of his All-Defense play alongside his scoring.
Herbert Jones is falling apart
Things have fallen apart since then. This year, Jones is shooting a below-average 33.3 percent from deep and an inexplicably bad 44.9 percent from 2-point range; the only players 6'7" or taller this season to shoot so poorly are deep bench players, rookies, shooting specialists or Brook Lopez (who might be a shooting specialist at this point). They aren't commanding multiple first-round picks in a trade.
Add in that Jones has battled with injuries for the second-straight season, and you get a player who is aging, fragile, declining and one of the worst offensive players in the sport right now. Why would the Warriors possibly want to trade for him?
The idea of Jones is an elite 3-and-D player, who would elevate them defensively into the stratosphere and shoot well enough to keep teams honest, with some verve to put the ball on the deck and attack the rim given the spacing provided by playing with Wardell Stephen Curry II.
The reality is that he and Draymond Green would be unplayable together, and thus Jones wouldn't be able to close games for the Warriors. His impact on the offense would be to strangle Steph Curry's spacing even more, and he isn't enough of a defensive wrecking ball to make up for any of his offensive deficiencies. Jones should be a bench specialist at this point; he's not a high-end, ultra-valuable starter.
The Warriors should stay far away from Herb Jones on the trade market. There are other players who will help the Warriors without taking just as much away. Jones is no longer that guy.