The Milwaukee Bucks are adding forward Terrence Jones to the roster. Here’s what you should know about him.
The Milwaukee Bucks emerged out of nowhere and signed free agent forward Terrence Jones to a contract for the rest of the season after the New Orleans Pelicans released him on February 23.
According to Charles Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Jones will be signed using the roster spot that’ll open up after Axel Toupane departs the Bucks. Toupane will have to be released early to make that move, however, considering his ten-day contract wouldn’t be up until Monday.
That’s not a problem for Milwaukee, and adding a quality player like Jones should be worth losing the chance to look at Toupane, especially considering he hasn’t played a single minute thus far with the Bucks.
Jones won’t be with the Bucks until Saturday, and it’s currently unclear if he’ll be able to suit up for Milwaukee’s game that night against the Toronto Raptors. Either way, we can look back at his career thus far to find out what to expect from Terrence Jones going forward.
To figure out Jones’ game, we’ll go through his play this season, what he did in his time with the Houston Rockets, what other writers have said about Jones and then what to expect from him in his stint with Milwaukee.
Jones’ 2016-17 Season
Jones signed with the New Orleans Pelicans this summer for a minimum contract. He got to re-unite with former Kentucky teammate Anthony Davis after the two won the National Championship together back in 2012.
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In 51 played games with the Pelicans, Jones was having a pretty strong season. He averaged 11.5 points, 5.9 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 0.8 steals and 1.0 blocks per game. Although those aren’t superstar numbers, they’re certainly very solid, especially for a player on a minimum contract.
Jones is more of a traditional power forward than anything else. Unfortunately he’s not much of a three-point shooter, and he only made 25.3 percent of his threes with New Orleans. Jones’ strengths lie in his scoring and rebounding, sort of like a poor man’s Taj Gibson on that end.
The Pelicans actually released Jones to do him a favor. Their highly-publicized trade for DeMarcus Cousins meant New Orleans doesn’t have many minutes left for big men, so the Pellies let Jones go so he could get some minutes somewhere. The Bucks are the beneficiaries of that decision, along with Jones of course.
Jones’ Career Before This Season
Before his time with the Pelicans, Jones spent four years in Houston with the Rockets after being taken 18th overall in 2012. After not playing much in his rookie season, Jones came on strong in his second year.
Jones averaged 12.1 points and 6.9 rebounds per game with Houston that season, both of which are career-highs for him. He started almost all of the games he played that season, and looked like he had arrived as a starter in the NBA for a while going forward.
Unfortunately after starting 71 games that season, Jones would start 35 games over his next two years with the Rockets combined. As summarized in this great piece from The Dream Shake, injuries, illness and a car crash affected Jones in those two seasons, causing him to play just 83 combined games.
Had Jones stayed a full-time starter and produced at the level he did in his second season in his third and fourth year, he would likely be making over $10 million in a multi-year deal somewhere right now. Unfortunately, that’s just not how things have played out for Terrence Jones thus far, although his Milwaukee stint could help propel him into a new deal next season.
Other Takes On Jones
Tyler Conway over at Bleacher Report summed up the reasoning of the Jones deal for both the player and the team:
"Jones performed well for the most part during his stint in New Orleans and should slot in fine as a rotational big. Having signed a minimum contract to come to the Pelicans last offseason—in part due to opportunity—Jones should be able to use the stretch run to get a raise as a free agent this summer."
Charles Gardner at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel detailed a standout performance Jones had earlier this season.
"Jones is expected to join the Bucks on Saturday. He averaged 11.5 points and 5.9 rebounds in 51 games with the Pelicans, including 12 starts. The 6-foot-9 Jones scored 36 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in New Orleans’ 124-122 victory over Cleveland on Jan. 23. Pelicans star Anthony Davis did not play and Jones was in the starting lineup."
Jim Eichenhofer over at Pelicans.com wrote about Jones’ secret weapon on offense–the pump fake.
"Some NBA players aspire to become known as great shooters. Others hope to build a reputation as an elite dunker, rebounder, or defender. Meanwhile, one of Terrence Jones’ goals is a bit less conventional: the New Orleans forward hopes to be recognized for having the game’s premier pump fake. “I truly believe it is one of the best in the NBA,” Jones said. “I think that’s why it’s worked. In this game, you’ve got to have that utmost confidence to be successful.”"
Fit With The Bucks
Terrence Jones was signed by the Bucks because of injuries to Michael Beasley and Jabari Parker. He’s an added piece mainly for depth, but considering how random the starting lineups in Milwaukee have been lately Jones could end up starting at some point.
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He’s played most of his minutes as a power forward, although Jones has spent time at center as well. It might’ve made more sense to add a smaller player who can play both forward spots instead of power forward and center, but beggars can’t be choosers.
Any team signing bought out players in March is certainly a beggar, and the Bucks are no exception. Jones is reported to only be signed for the rest of this season, meaning he could go anywhere in the summer.
A strong stint with the Bucks could result in Jones getting a big deal in free agency. The best case scenario for Milwaukee would be getting quality minutes out of him this season, and then finding a way to ink Jones to a long-term deal that isn’t obscenely expensive.
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We don’t need a Miles Plumlee contract 2.0 or anything, but Jones can play. Having him around should help in the absence of Parker and Beasley, although it may mean Mirza Teletovic gets even less playing time.