Jack Brickman
Hall-of-Famer
- Joined
- Aug 12, 2012
- Messages
- 38,456
- Reaction score
- 61,544
- Points
- 148
Re: Welcome James Jones
He'll be useful here because we've got so many ball handlers, and he can play the two or the three. You can put him out there with Dion, Kyrie, or LeBron (or any combination) and he can work as the kick man in the corner. I don't expect him to play much, but you could do much worse for a ninth man.
Unlike Ray Allen, James Jones is half decent defensively. He's not athletic, but he uses his length very well on that end (6'9" with a 7'2.5" wingspan) to bother shooters and funnel his man toward help defense. Literally all he can do on offense is shoot though, so he won't be very useful except during stretches where we just openly put the ball in LeBron's hands and ask him to go to work.
EDIT: To be clear, what I'm saying about his defense isn't random speculation. When he was younger, DX called him an "excellent defender" with "average athleticism" but "strong fundamentals." At age 34 I'm sure he's even less athletic, but his length and fundamentals should make him serviceable.
He'll be useful here because we've got so many ball handlers, and he can play the two or the three. You can put him out there with Dion, Kyrie, or LeBron (or any combination) and he can work as the kick man in the corner. I don't expect him to play much, but you could do much worse for a ninth man.