[montauriush4Participant]

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Perry Jones III: Boom or bust?

[dolla130Participant]

Perry Jones III: Boom or bust? 

April, 9, 2012

Apr 9

2:17

PM ET

By Chad Ford

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Kevin Jairaj/US PresswirePerry Jones may be better suited as a guard than a big man in the NBA.

Is Perry Jones III going to be a superstar or a dud? That’s the question many NBA GMs are pondering right now.

Given his A-plus talent and C-minus motor … your guess is as good as any.

His draft stock has been falling all year as fed-up scouts and GMs feel that he’s out of excuses.

But there is an interesting subtext to the Jones debate. Are we looking at his game the wrong way? Maybe the reason he struggles to dominate is because he’s being asked to play out of position.

"He really has the game of a 2-guard or a small forward," one respected NBA GM told ESPN.com. "Baylor used him as a center for the past two years, so you rarely got to see him comfortable. It’s like, what if UConn had tried to play Rudy Gay at the 5? I think people would’ve had a very different opinion of him on draft night."

Jones has frustrated scouts since his high school days. He’s always had the requisite size, length and athleticism to be an NBA stud. He also has had a fairly advanced perimeter game for a while. He can handle the ball and break guys down off the dribble and has a solid jump shot. He has always been the team’s most willing passer. Had Scott Drew let him run the point, would things have been different?

Scouts have focused on Jones’ perceived lack of toughness. He doesn’t block shots. He shies away from contact. He floats a lot out on the perimeter. It’s rare to see him aggressively take control in the paint. Those are all things that elite 4s do in college. But if he’s a wing? The standard may be just a little bit different.

So what is he? I spoke with an NBA scout last year who had an interesting take. He said NBA scouts should quit trying to project what a player should be and focus on scouting a player based on what the player thinks he is.

"Players are who they think they are, not who you think they are," the scout said. "Perry Jones thinks like a point guard, not a big man. That’s where his heart is. Embrace that and he’s going to be amazing. Fight it and he could be a huge disappointment."

A year and a few months later and that’s where we are. Draft Jones as a dominant 4 man who will defend, make a living in the paint and outwork the next guy and you’re setting yourself up for disappointment. Let him play like Rudy Gay, give him the ball on the wing and let him create and he might just surprise you.

We currently have Jones ranked No. 9 on our Big Board and have him going No. 12 to the Milwaukee Bucks in our Lottery Mock Draft. Both of those numbers are probably close to his floor as an NBA prospect. If he has great workouts and if a team with the right system is drafting above that, Jones could go anywhere between 5 and 12 on draft night.

 

[Memphis MadnessParticipant]

With guys like LeBron and Durant leading two of the best teams in the game along with other small
forwards such as Carmelo, Deng, and Rudy Gay starting on playoff teams, you almost have to take a
chance on a guy like Perry Jones. He is 6’11 and very talented. His baseline is a 6’11 Danny Granger
with better athleticism. I think he could go as high as 3 or 4 in the draft.

If I am the Trailblazers and I have the Nets pick too, I take Perry Jones with the early pick and Tyler Zeller with the
other pick. Zeller would be a good big man next to LA and Jones would give them a versatile 3 forward rotation of
LA, Batum, and Jones with Pryzbilla and JJ Hickson getting backup minutes up front.

[mgreener_34Participant]

 I really like Jones as a player, and if he ever gets a three point shot he will be dangerous. I like the idea of playing him at the three, because he could be a Kevin Durant player just without the range. What ever team drafts him is going to get a good rebounder, and a lot of size.

I really don’t understand the hate that Jones gets most of the time. The guy put up about 14/8 on a really good Baylor team that has two other good forwards. I would love to see him go to a team like the Jazz or Trailblazers. Both are great organizations, and would have so much length with him in the line up. 

[sheltwon3Participant]

based on what they guy said Perry Jones is basically Lamar Odom.   I  have seen Jones play a little bit but he was in the post so I was limited  in what I saw.

[Bill Walton’s KneesParticipant]

What makes (made now) Odom so great was his excellent passing, ballhandling, and vision.  Believe it or not, Odom was at one time considered to be the second coming of Magic Johnson.

[sheltwon3Participant]

I know a lot about Odom, I have been following since he was at Rhode Island.

[NYK2010Participant]

Deng isn’t leading the Bulls in anything.

[TruettParticipant]

Was actually pretty decent… not so much talking heads bs… challenged the accepted rhetoric… I dunno if Jones is ever going to be a 3 tho… is he that good off the dribble? who knows?…we didn’t see it in college…To answer seniorverde’s Q about the criticims Jones recieves; it is simple, there were games where he easily scored 30pts and there were games he scored 4… his 14 ppg average was not consistent hence people criticizing him for his lack of effort

I think the author nailed the critique of Jones pretty well… A lot of the slights against him are the same that Rudy Gay dealt with comings out…bad motor.. playing out of position… super talented but does not play hard. Rudy Gay proved them wrong… so we know that it is possible for Jones to do the same (that is the optimistic comp).

My biggest problem with Jones is that he plays like he hates contact. This is clear not only on his post defense and the way he protects the paint, but it also a reason his play dipped off at the end of the year. Later in the season, he gave up the driving element of his face up game because teams would pack the paint. I dunno the reason for this…Maybe he was unwilling to take contact? maybe he did not think he was strong enough to finish? Maybe he saw that there must be an open man due to the way the defense was playing him? Maybe he was told not to drive by his coach? Part of me sides with the opinion that this was a coaches decision because I heard an interview where Drew compared him to that WR who makes his teammates open by drawing double teams This suggests to me that drawing the double team with Perry Jones was part of the Baylor offensive plan. He is going to have to play through contact if he wants to make it in the NBA.

A neutral fact should be his passing skill… honestly Baylor was a horrible passing team and has been since Jones has been there… Calling him their best passer is not necessaryily a glowing compliment.

I guess a lot of teams think that he is a three or the article would not have come out… I think he should be a face up 4 because he is still very good at finishing around the basket, rebounding, and setting screens… additionally, while he has an outside shot but I do not think he should take it all the time. I dont like him on Portland because I think that Jones will start off shooting from the outside primarily because of his size and length (like LaMarcus, or Gallo) and once hisbody comes around start driving and working in the post. Thus there are too many similarities between his game and LaMarcus’s. I do like him on teams that have a someone in the center like the pistons(fav landing spot), hornets, 76ers, bucks, rockets, and maybe the cavs. I would put Sac too there but they do not know what to do with their personel right now..

[victor_eParticipant]

this is so obvious to me it makes me think I missed my calling. just kidding.

its probably because I’m a Pistons fan and we’ve had about 10 small forwards in the past two years, and most of them play out of position.Austin Daye has played the 4, and he is really a 2. Charlie V is a 3, but he plays 4. Jerebko is a 3, but he plays 4. We have so many square pegs in round holes. Its an epidemic.

But I remember my first time seeing a video of Perry Jones a couple years ago before he was even in college, and the only thing I remember was him freezing someone at the 3 point line and crossing over, driving to the lane and dunking. I thought "he’s a 6’11 guard" When I saw him playing the 4 this year it was obvious why he wasn’t performing to his potential.

He is at most a 3 not a 4, plus he played with trigger happy guards. Whoever picks him will be pleasantly suprised. If they need a 3 and they play him right, he could be the steal of the draft.

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