Golden State Warriors: 2016 NBA Draft Grades
No. 30 — Damian Jones
Just like last year’s draft, Golden State watched as a talented, high-upside player fell right into their laps at No. 30, and just like in 2012 when they took Ezeli, that player at No. 30 was a filled out center from Vanderbilt.
One of the more popular choices for the Warriors among mock drafts, Damian Jones is a 7’0″, 245-pound center who averaged 13.9 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game in his junior season at Vandy.
New Warriors super long center Damian Jones may be the most athletic big man in the draft and was an engineering major in college.
— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpears) June 24, 2016
At 20 years old, Jones is already an elite athlete with superb jumping ability, a 7’4″ wingspan and the requisite size to play in this league for a long time — especially on a smart passing team like the Warriors that will enjoy the alley-oop threat he poses rolling to the rim.
He’s not a polished scorer on the block, but that’s okay for a team that doesn’t exactly specialize in post-up sets anyway. Jones has the foundation of a decent jump shot, which is more than Andrew Bogut or Festus Ezeli can claim.
Damian Jones shot 74% on cuts and 80% rolling to the rim last season. Tips the scales at 245 with a 7'4 wingspan.
— Synergy Basketball (@SynergySST) June 24, 2016
Speaking of which, Jones is a smart pick simply for the fact that the 31-year-old Bogut only has one year left on his contract and Ezeli is a restricted free agent this summer.
Ezeli was supposed to be the long-term replacement at center for Bogut and even looked the part early on in the season…before a February knee surgery robbed him of his consistency after missing 31 games.
Ezeli’s collapse in the playoffs opened the door for questions about overpaying to retain the services of a still raw and injury-prone player, and if the Warriors make a push for Kevin Durant, they’ll likely need to renounce Ezeli’s rights and trade Bogut anyway.
The Damian Jones pick represents some big man insurance in the event that Durant expresses serious interest in the Dubs, though starting a rookie at the 5 on a championship-caliber team obviously won’t cut it, especially since Jones is currently injured with a torn pectoral.
Damian Jones said he's been told that the most time he'll miss is six months. The Warriors are saying he'll return "early in the season."
— Rusty Simmons (@JRustySimmons) June 25, 2016
The big issue with Jones in college was his consistency, as some games he’d play like a world-beater before disappearing again for 2-3 games at a time.
But playing for a team with a championship culture should help amend that bad habit, since the Warriors just make basketball fun while still winning games at the same time. If any team can tap into the hunger this kid needs to succeed, it’d be a team like the Dubs.
Long story short: Damian Jones provides long-term insurance in the frontcourt, has all the physical tools to be dominant playing on a title contender for years to come and represents superb value for the last pick in the first round, even if he won’t be ready for the start of the season.
Grade: A-
Next: Patrick McCaw