Even with the encouraging news I would say its would still take a month for Jones to be the Jones we are used to seeing and thats barring no setbacks. He hasnt really participated in any sort of basketball activities of late and hasnt been with the team on road trips and I dont believe I've seen him at all the home games either (though he has been at a lot of them). The good news is that if Smith does sign with with Houston Jones doesn't have to rush back and run the risk of aggravating anything trying to get back on the court to help the team. Likewise the training staff will not have the same sort of pressure on team to get him back quicker. Right now I wouldnt expect him to realistically to get meaningful minutes until around the all-star break
sounds good on T Jones. working out on treadmill and in the swimming pool. Sounds like he should return by the end of Jan.
Now that we have Smith, what's Jones' role going to be with Houston? Is he even going to get minutes?
I think we see the NO Pick + Jones + Shved/Cannan/KPop be traded for Dragic. There's no playing time for Jones with Smith in there and Dmo establishing himself. It's a shame but hard to see how Jones would fit in. You have Howard/Smith/Dmo. If each of those guys takes 28 minutes (conservative at best) that leaves you with 12 minutes for Jones.
and if one of them misses time - who else do we really have? we need all 4 of them just for depth. tjones could be around next year when smith is gone.
Smith could walk - that's true. But unlikely if he has found a home as well. I'm willing to take that risk to have a team this year of Howard/Harden/Smith/Dragic/Dmo/Brewer/Bev/Ariza/Terry That's enough firepower on both ends of the court to win a chip. There's no guarantee that a year later you will have everyone healthy anyway. In my eyes, you play for the ring when you can get it. It's worth the gamble.
Even if Smith walks, you just draft the next athletic 6'9 PF to be a backup, they aren't exactly rare.
I hope tjones can come back soon. Watching smith play is awful. He's a turnover waiting to happen. He's a poor fit on this team. I fully expect jones to start if he's conditioned and back 100% healthy. Dmo will come off the bench and smith will have to fight and earn his minutes coming off the bench.
DMo is far better right now than jones ever was. Jones will have to play incredibly well if he wants his starting role back
Jones is a much better fit as a starter and next to Howard. He doesn't need the ball in his hands to be productive. He's the better athlete, finisher, pick n roller, rebounder, ball handler, shot blocker. Dmo is no scrub. He's a great post up player, but he's not getting his touches in the post as long as Howard is starting. If he's not getting his touches, he's not nearly as effective. He's better off coming off the bench as the sixth man. When it comes to smith, lol. To quote tsherkin of realgm: "He's playing an absolutely moronic brand of basketball at a hilariously low level".
It's incorrect to say that DMo is playing "far better" than Jones ever has. DMo has been playing well, and he has a bright future. But, if you look at the statistics, you will see that DMo hasn't done far better than TJones. Jones averaged 12 points and 7 rebounds last season in 27 minutes per game. This year DMo is averaging 10.5 and 6 in 27 minutes per game. You can make the argument that DMo is a better defensive player. But, I think Jones is a better rebounder. They are different players that have different strengths and weaknesses. I really like both players a lot. They are both young and getting better. I don't care who starts or who comes off the bench. I just want the coaching staff to figure out what combinations of players work best together. Maybe it will turn out that Dwight and Jones play best together, or maybe Smith and DMo. I don't what the rotations will look like come playoff time. Nothing wrong with having four big men who can play and contribute. I think we need to get past this DMo vs TJones business. They can both be good, they can both get minutes.
