Filing out the report card of Atlanta Hawks center Damian Jones.
Today marks the one-year anniversary of the Atlanta Hawks trading Omari Spellman to the Warriors for Damian Jones. I’ve made my opinions of the trade clear in the past, but today seemed like a good day to look back at the season Jones had in Atlanta.
After making the Finals in each of his first three seasons with Golden State, Jones looked to step into a later role with the young Hawks, expectations he failed to reach for the most part.
Let’s take a deeper look into his season by filling out his report card for his fourth year in the league.
Damian Jones 2019-2020 Season Report Card:
Offensive Grade: C +
Jones has just one real talent on offense: dunks. Jones is a solid rim-runner and was one of Trae Young‘s favorite lob targets all season. Per NBA.com, 155 of his 178 field goal attempts came within five feet of the rim, just 18 percent were unassisted looks.
He truly has no range on offense, which made him stick out on a Hawks team that took the sixth-most threes in the league.
To be fair, Jones was good close to the rim, shooting 68 percent from the field overall and third-best in the NBA.
Jones isn’t a big man you can throw an entry pass to and watch him get his own bucket in the post. Nearly all of his looks were open dunks or lay-ins. He’s incredibly limited on offense, but what does do good, he does very well.
Playmaking Grade: C –
Just like I wasn’t hard on Trae Young for his like of rebounding, it’s hard to judge Jones too much on his playmaking ability. The 6’11 center had just 30 assists total in his first three seasons, surpassing that with 35 this year.
His grade has to take a little hit for his lack of ball security, however, as Jones is a threat to turn it over anytime he touches the ball. Jones knows this too, fortunately, and he’s not one to hang on to the ball for too long or bring it up the court.
Rebounding Grade: D
While not outright horrible, Jones’ rebounding numbers were certainly disappointing as that was one place he could have really helped the Atlanta Hawks on paper. Jones is often too tentative on the boards and is frustratingly out of position too often.
The Hawks allowed 11.2 offensive rebounds per night (2nd worst in the league) and some of that blame has to fall on Jones’ shoulders. He averaged just 3.7 in 16.7 minutes per game, 8.4 per 36 minutes played.
Defensive Grade: C –
Jones has his moments on D, and he improved on that end as the season went on, but he still wasn’t as stout as the team would want.
He’s over-aggressive, getting into foul trouble often – fouling out three times despite never playing more than 30 minutes in a single game. He’s slow both laterally and vertically for someone who flashes athletic pop on the other end and was often tasked with doing too much thanks to the rest of the Hawks’ defensive struggles.
Jones was often on the receiving end of, and thus blamed for, many Atlanta breakdowns, and Jones is a better defender than the numbers may indicate. He’s just not partially great either, especially if he ever has to step out of the paint.
Overall Grade: C –
Damian Jones was more disappointing than he was bad for the Hawks. It’s clear the lack of playtime he received stashed on the bench of Golden State hurt his progress, as Jones made many “rookie mistakes” this year.
With the Hawks acquiring both Clint Capela and Dewayne Dedmon to play alongside Bruno Fernando, the writing is on the wall for Jones, who is set to be a free agent this fall. He almost certainly won’t be back in Atlanta, and he might have to fight hard for another chance in the NBA altogether.
I do hope he gets another chance, and wish him luck.
What grade would you give Atlanta Hawks center Damian Jones?