Derrick Jones Jr. bet on himself this past summer, and that bet looks like it’s going to pay off.
Last summer Jones declined the player option on his contract with the Chicago Bulls which would have paid him $3.36 million this season. In its place, Jones instead signed a one-year $2.7 million veteran’s minimum contract with the Dallas Mavericks – the contract the NBA reserves for seven-year veterans like Jones.
However, when Jones hits the free agent market again this summer he expects to hit the jackpot, and that betting on himself will pay off. Especially considering the wiry 6-7, 210-pound forward has been a critical piece towards the Mavs advancing to the NBA Finals for the first time in 13 years.
Asked after Sunday’s practice if signing with the Mavs has worked out for him better than he expected, Jones said: “Hell yeah. Way better. I could have accepted my player option in Chicago and still be on the team that’s not in the playoffs right now. I just decided to bet on myself.
“I took less money to come here, but the money wasn’t the problem. The money wasn’t the issue. I just wanted to have the opportunity to be on the floor and to 
showcase what I’m able to do, and it happened for me.”
Jones didn’t sign with the Mavs until last Aug. 18 – more than a month after free agency started. The wait, he said: “Was nerve- wracking. I just didn’t know what was about to happen. I didn’t know where I was going.
“I didn’t know who was interested, really, because that whole trade with Damian (Lillard going from Portland to Milwaukee), it just shut everything down for a lot of players. But I talked to (Mavs) coach (Jason) Kidd and he told me once I signed if I was to come here, I was going to have to work for everything, and that’s what I did.”
Ironically, one of the teams Jones was considering to sign with was the Boston Celtics. It’s the same team the Mavs are playing in the NBA Finals, starting Thursday at 7:30 p.m. in Boston.
“Yeah, it is kind of funny,” Jones said. “But I’m just glad I made the decision that I did and I came here.”
Jones played in a career-high 76 games this season for the Mavs and started a career-high 66 of them. He averaged a career-high 8.6 points and 3.3 rebounds in a career-high 23.5 minutes, and also shot 48.3 percent from the field and a career-high 34.3 percent from three-point range.
“When you talk about D-Jones, it’s not just one thing,” Kidd said. “It’s his character of who he is. He’s about playing the game the right way.
“He was given a chance and he took full advantage of it. He never complains. He does his job at a high level and he’s really appreciative of the opportunity.”
The Mavs are the fifth team Jones has played for during his seven-year NBA career. He went undrafted out of Nevada-Las Vegas in 2016, played for the Phoenix Suns from ’16-’17, for the Miami Heat from ’17-’20, for the Portland Trail Blazers from 20-21, and for the Bulls from 2021 until joining the Mavs last summer.
Besides averaging 8.5 points and 3.9 rebounds while helping the Heat reach the NBA Finals in 2020, the most significant success Jones has enjoyed in his career has been with the Mavs. So, why has everything been on-point for Jones this season with the Mavs?
“I guess I probably just took full advantage of the opportunity that I had,” he said. “My coaches and my teammates trusted me a lot this season and it just worked out
for me.”
A defensive specialist who also is pretty impressive shooting three-pointers, Jones will either be guarding one of the Celtics’ dynamic forwards – Jayson Tatum or Jaylen Brown – in the NBA Finals. Needless to say, he’s ready for the challenge.
“They’re good offensive players,” Jones said. “Like I said before with all the other series, you just got to keep them from their spots and try to limit them to the shots that they like to take.
“I’m just real happy that we’re still playing basketball. I really don’t care who we’re playing against. I just want to go out there and play and get wins.”
And in order for the Mavs to get four wins against the Celtics, they know the so-called experts have them as the underdogs in this series. Then again, the so-called experts had the Mavs as the underdogs in their previous three series against the Los Angeles Clippers, Oklahoma City Thunder and Minnesota Timberwolves.
“That underdog, I don’t like that, really,” Jones said. “But everybody wants to keep putting that narrative on us.
“We go out there and we play the game like we’re supposed to play. I don’t really think anybody can beat us in a seven-game series. We believe that we can beat 
anybody.”
Jones learned plenty about what it takes to win the NBA Finals from when the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Heat in six games in the 2020 NBA Finals.
“That every game is tough,” he said. “You’ve got to go out there with a Game 7 mentality.
“You never know what you’re going to get from a game. You just got to go out there and give it everything that you have and just live with the results.”
From the Mavs’ perspective, the results they’ve been receiving from Jones has been top-notch.
“He’s become a big part of the Mavs’ culture,” Kidd said. “You talk about defense, but also he’s shooting the three at a high clip.
“We joked about it at the beginning of the season that now we can participate in the layup line. We have athletes who can dunk, and he’s part of that athletic group.”
Jones was the runner-up in the NBA Slam Dunk contest in 2017 during All-Star Weekend, then came back in 2020 and won the Slam Dunk contest. That put the
stamp on his career as being a certified high-flier in the NBA.
Still, Jones knows the Mavs are going to have to win at least one game in Boston in order to win this series. But he already has the blueprint to make that happen.
“We just stay with each other and stay close through thick and thin, and when things are going bad we huddle up and we talk,” Jones said. “Whenever teams go on a little run, we always talk to each other and (say), ‘We’ve taken their punch, now it’s time to give ours and no need to fold and shy away from the pressure, because that’s not what we’re going to do. We’re going to keep fighting.’
“Me and my teammates, we’re focused on going into Boston and getting one win at a time and taking it back home and getting one win at a time. I don’t know what the media should think about this series, but I know it’s going to be a fun one.”
It’s going to a fun one, the Mavs believe, because Jones has elevated his game to the point where he’s one of the league’s most effective two-way players.
“When you talk to him and you get to know him, he’s very consistent with his messaging that he just wants to win and be a part of it,” Kidd said. “He’s definitely a part of it, and he’s definitely helped us win.
“So, we’re very lucky to have him no matter if he was signed first or last when it comes to free agency.”
X: @DwainPrice
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