JULY 8: The trade is official, according to the Cavaliers, who announced in a press release that they sent cash to the Jazz to complete the deal.
JULY 1: The Jazz have agreed to trade center Damian Jones to the Cavaliers, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).
It’s not yet clear what Utah will receive in the deal, but according to Wojnarowski (Twitter link), Cleveland is acquiring Jones without sending out a player of its own. That’s possible because the big man is in the second year of a two-year, minimum-salary contract, so his salary can be taken on using the minimum salary exception.
Jones picked up his $2,586,665 player option for the 2023/24 season last week.
A former first-round pick, Jones signed with the Lakers last offseason after playing for five different teams in his first six NBA seasons, then was sent to the Jazz in the three-team trade-deadline deal involving D’Angelo Russell, Russell Westbrook, and Mike Conley.
Jones saw more regular playing time in Utah than he had in Los Angeles, averaging 4.6 points and 3.5 rebounds in 15.8 minutes per contest in his 19 appearances for the Jazz. In total, he played in 41 regular season games and averaged 3.5 PPG and 3.0 RPG in 11.6 MPG.
The Cavaliers have been active in the last 24 hours, but their moves have focused on the wing (Caris LeVert, Max Strus) and forward (Georges Niang) spots. Jones will provide some additional size in the frontcourt behind starting bigs Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley.
He’s a good backup for Jarrett Allen!!! Damion Jones is a good rim runner and rim protector.
Jones believer as well, they’re isn’t many of us out there, and maybe rightfully so
He also shot the 3-ball at a limited, but crazy high percentage. Guess Hendricks, along with Collins, both able to play the 4 and 5, made his role redundant.
I also think the Jazz might be freeing up roster spots and a little bit more salary to make another trade(s).
Good offseason so far for the Cavs. Knicks and Nets still quiet.
This is just a warm body. Jones has his positives (rim protection, rebounding, can shoot a little) but overall he’s just roster filler. C’mon Cavs. We need someone who can average 25 minutes a game in the backup big slot.
We have him. His name is Isaiah Mobley.
I have no view on this deal, but CLE did a good job to add Niang and Strus with what they had to work with. It doesn’t matter that the salaries are higher than people expected.
Yep nieng and strus are solid.
Not a believer in d Jones.
He shows flashes he could always be more.
Could do worse as a 3rd center.
Yeah, he’ll do fine for you guys. Good insurance for injuries. Safe journey Mr. Jones. =)
Sometime this year Either Allen or Mobley or both will miss a few weeks. Jones will play okay but not like them. At that time Bickerstaff will be forced to give minutes to Evan’s brother Isaiah. Isaiah will perform better than Jones and have his deal upgraded to a standard contract. Jones is excellent as a 3rd string Center. A 2nd string guy needs to be able to step in for an injured player without the team falling off a level or 2. The sooner Isaiah passes Jones on the Depth chart the better.