2.71 million in 1 year! Top 3D! Your big contract is coming!

Basketball Big History Ball

2024-05-27 23:05Published in Fujian

As we all know, the Mavericks are only one win away from the finals.

The Mavericks missed the play-offs last year, but this year they made it all the way to the Western Conference finals, and won all three games, and one foot has stepped on the floor of the finals.

And if you want to say why the Mavericks can make such a big breakthrough, the Eastern European combination is naturally the biggest contributor, the two average 50.7 points per game in the playoffs, including 14.3 points per game in the fourth quarter, with strong stability and a certain growth in mentality.

However, the reason for the transformation of the Mavericks is not only in the Eastern European combination, or the change of role players is the key, from the lack of defensive resources caused by the departure of Dinwiddie and Finney Smith last season, to the selection of Lively this season, the trade of Washington and Gafford this season, the Mavericks' forward lineup has been directly upgraded by more than one notch.

Among them, there is an operation that is easy to be overlooked: signing Derrick Jones Jr. with a base salary of 2.71 million for one year.

When it comes to Derrick Jones Jr., many people's impression may still be stuck in the 2020 slam dunk contest, when with Wade's "assistance", Jones Jr. defeated Aaron Gordon in overtime to win the championship, which is still controversial.

is also because of winning the dunk championship, Derrick Jones Jr. left a "jumping man" impression, of course, his explosiveness is really strong, but in terms of comprehensive strength, to be honest, it is not outstanding.

The most direct manifestation is that when he signed with the Bulls in 2022, Jones Jr. only got a base salary, and after becoming a free agent in 2023, he still only got the Mavericks' base salary.

However, it was this basic salary that made Jones Jr. shine.

Let's talk about the regular season first, Jones Jr. played a total of 76 games, including 66 starts, playing an average of 23.5 minutes per game, scoring 8.6 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.0 assists, shooting 48.3%/34.3%/71.3% from three, and 59.2% from the field.

A base-paid player can not only sit firmly in the start, but also play an average of 23 minutes per game and score 8.6 points on 59%+ true shooting percentage, which is already a great value for money.

The focus is on the playoffs, with Jones Jr. being promoted again.

So far in the playoffs, Jones Jr. has played in 15 games, averaging 31.1 minutes per game, handing over 10.2 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.2 assists, and his scoring is fourth on the team behind Eastern Europe and Washington.

Unlike many players, Jones Jr.'s playoff efficiency has not only not decreased, but also improved, with a three-point shooting percentage of 50.0%/37.5%/73.9% and a true shooting percentage of 59.7%.

In the second round of the series against the Thunder, Jones Jr. was particularly impressive, and he played in the last three games of the series:

- G4, shot 7-of-12 from the field and scored 17 points

- G5, shot 7-of-9 and scored 19 points

- G6, shot 8-of-13 and scored 22 points

In the just-concluded Western Conference G3, Jones Jr. shined again, he scored 11 points on 3 of 3 three-pointers in the right bottom corner, and these 11 points all came from the first half, helping the Mavericks stop the bleeding many times.

In fact, Jones Jr. wasn't a great three-point shooter, shooting just 31.6 percent from three-point range in his career, and he didn't shoot more than 34 percent in a year before joining the Mavericks.

However, so far in the playoffs, he has become one of the Mavericks' most reliable bottom corner three-pointers, shooting 14-of-32 from the bottom corners on both sides, with a shooting rate of 43.4%, including 8-of-14 from the right corner, with a shooting rate of 57%.

And, his defense is also very surprising, since the playoffs, Jones Jr.'s opposite players, shooting percentage from 49.2% to 43.5%, three-point shooting rate from 39.0% to 29.5%, outside the gate level of influence.

It needs to be said that in the three-round series, Jones Jr.'s main defensive players were George, Alexander, and Edwards, all of whom were opposite the core ball carriers, and under his defense, these three had a total of 27 of 65, with a shooting rate of only 41.5%.

Although the sample is relatively limited, Jones Jr. has been a top-tier 3-and-D player so far in the playoffs, and this performance can obviously add points to his next contract.

According to previous news, Jones Jr. hopes to renew his contract with the Mavericks, and with the breakthrough performance of the Mavericks this year, no matter whether he can win the championship in the end, I believe that Cuban will not be stingy to keep him.

Importantly, Doncic is also a big fan of Jones Jr., who has publicly praised Jones Jr.'s performance and called him one of the three best outside defenders in this year's playoffs, the other two being Holiday and Dort, both of whom are well-known defensive giants.

If you remember, Cuban made a mistake after winning the championship in 2011, breaking up the championship team, which directly led to the Mavericks' later loss of competitiveness, and this time, as long as there is enough space, the Mavericks should not repeat the same mistakes.

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