Portland Trail Blazers: 3 reasons to love the Derrick Jones Jr signing

Reason three – upside and value on a $9.5 million deal

There has been a fair bit of speculation amongst Blazers fans around Jones’s signing, but as a 23-year-old with elite physical tools, he has a lot of upside.

When you look over what he can do already, the $9.5 million a year is strong value.

Jones is in the top 10 percent of the league for his position in blocking shots, forcing turnovers, offensive rebounding, and finishing at the rim. He is elite at these four skills.

As he is just 23, there is a good chance that his shooting will come along. Two seasons ago, he attempted 80 three-pointers, making 27 of them at 34 percent. Last season, he attempted 120, making 36, at an efficiency of 30 percent.

Though these aren’t huge volumes or great percentages, Jones has increased his volume year-on-year, which shows that he is looking to improve his game.

Jones can already defend multiple positions, so if his shooting comes on, he could become one of the best three and d players in the league. Also, at a $9.5 million salary, Jones isn’t hard to move in a trade. His salary can be sent for other middling salaries or aggregated with others to bring back a salary in the $17 – $22 million range.

Jones was one of the best available wings on the market, and the Blazers secured him at a dollar amount that was of great value to the team and player.

Neil Olshey has distinguished himself with great moves so far in free agency. Jones is another of these who can help push this team back to the Conference finals in 2021.