Portland Trail Blazers: 3 players who likely won’t be back next season

Portland Trail Blazers not likely to return No. 2: Derrick Jones Jr.

Derrick Jones Jr. was one of the “big” free agent signings for the Blazers this past offseason when he joined the team on the mid-level exception. He began the season as the starting small forward, but he was out of the rotation and only playing garbage time minutes by the end of the year.

Jones came in to help the defensive issues for the Blazers, but he never seemed to make a big difference on that end, and his lack of offense and shooting really hurt the team. Coach Stotts had no choice but to bench him for Norman Powell and started playing Nassir Little and Hollis-Jefferson off the bench instead.

Jones played in 58 games during the regular season and averaged 6.8 points,3.5 rebounds and 0.9 blocks per game while shooting 48.4 percent from the field and 31.6 percent from the 3-point line in 22.7 minutes per game. But just like Kanter, Jones was a non-factor in the playoffs and only appeared in two games.

He has a player option for the upcoming season that is worth $9.7 million. Jones likely won’t get that kind of money from another team in free agency this year, so he has to decide if the money is more important than playing time.

An important factor for him and his agent will be if Stotts is fired and the new coach thinks he can utilize Jones. He is still just 24 and has some fantastic athletic ability, and if he does pick up the player option, the Blazers can trade him.

This is going to be very interesting to watch from both parties. Because I’m sure Jones’s camp was not happy about how the year went for him and the current Blazers regime probably feels the same way. But maybe Jones can get his money and another opportunity to prove himself if they wait this out long enough for new people to take over the organization.