Former Nuggets shooting guard Dahntay Jones has agreed to terms on a four-year deal with the Indiana Pacers.
Jones was a starter, sure, but his minutes went down each round in the playoffs, and he only averaged 17.5 minutes per game over the entire postseason. So he was really more like a sixth man, except with Chris Andersen and J.R. Smith playing such huge roles off the bench, he was actually the seventh man in terms of PT. He also wasn’t much of a jump shooter even when teams were leaving him open.
But he also had a sweet dunk on Erick Dampier in Game Three of the Dallas series, and he was part of one of the memorable moments of the Lakers series when he tripped Kobe Bryant. I was much more concerned about the fate of Chris Andersen this offseason than I was with Jones. I tend to criticize filthy-rich sports owners when they cheap out on teams, but if the NBA salary cap is really shrinking before the 2010-2011 season, then losing Jones is a minor sacrifice. J.R. Smith can step up in the lineup, and he’ll have to, because the Nuggets don’t have another guard ready if he’s struggling. Yes, we have Ty Lawson. But rookie point guards are no sure thing. Congratulations to Jones on his deal and significant raise; here’s to hoping the Nuggets won’t miss him too much on the court.
3 comments:
I felt pretty much the same yesterday when I heard the news of Jones leaving. We will miss his D, but really not much else. J.R. played some solid D during the playoffs this year and is ten-times the offensive player that Jones is. Hopefully Karl will start Smith next year, I would like to see him get a little more playing time.
I felt the same way about starting Smith, especially early in the playoffs, but I grew to love the way he'd dominate the early fourth quarter when most big-name guys were resting. It was a small move but a huge advantage and I hope Coach Karl doesn't give it up if Smith's starting.
That was my reaction exactly to Smiht moving on - a good move by both him and the organization. It was not worth going into luxury tax territory to keep him, although we will miss his perimeter D.
Smith is often great down the stretch, and we should continue to use him that way. We obviously hav to start him, but I would feel better about it if he were more consistent.
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