What else does Mason Jones need to do to stay in the NBA?

In theory, the NBA has the 510 best male basketball players at any time. Unquestionably the best professional league in the world, even for die-hard Europhiles, the 30 teams each have a maximum of 17 spots they can fill. And with the highest level of competition, prestige and remuneration of anyone, those 510 spots are the most highly regarded in the sport.

In practice, though, it tends to be more like the top 350. Players in the bottom third of the NBA are forever interchangeable with the next 150 or so players on the cusp.

There is a reason why the major European leagues, Australian L’NBL, the Chinese CBA and the NBA’s minor league G-League are so full of former (and some future) NBA players. Despite the rare Nikola Mirotic, Vasilije Mičić or Sasha Vesenkov-esque exceptions – who have chosen not to play in the NBA, at least for now – the best of the rest are absolutely as good as the NBA’s deep bench fillers, and more often than not just waiting for the right call to come. You can’t argue that there are no better players available outside the NBA than the guys Marko Simonovic and Buddy Boeheim. It just happens to be their turn right now.

In general, the only thing that prevents these strangers from entering is the absence of opportunities. Former NBA players now playing in other leagues haven’t necessarily gotten worse. They just haven’t made it past the top 350, the threshold where job security comes from.

With that in mind, the challenge for NBA scouting teams is finding the ones that can. To find those who would not only display a few flashes of junk time proficiency, but who could be consistent parts of a competitive team’s meaningful rotation. And I propose that Mason Jones, a 24-year-old guard currently in the G-League, could be one of them.

Jones has played in the NBA before, signing reciprocal deals with the Houston Rockets, Philadelphia 76ers and LA Lakers over the past two seasons. The 6’4 guard also managed 36 games and 387 minutes in that span, not a bad haul for anyone, let alone an underdrafted, undersized wing out of Alabama.

Four different contracts with three different teams over two years is already more opportunities than most prospects get. Yet Jones tore up the G-League in that span as well, at the rate of 26.3 point5.3 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game in 18 games for the Mexico City Capitanes so far in the regular season.

Even more impressive, he shot 52.9% from the field, 41.4% from three, and 85.7% from the line, while racking up a ridiculous 705% true shooting percentage. He’s facing the same players who are trying to show off their defensive skills to those same NBA scouts and are circling them.

From a statistical standpoint, it’s hard to see what more Jones can do. He is scoring from all areas, a three-level goalscorer with timing, touch, footwork, positioning, some fundamental strength, the underhandedness at drawing fouls from positions where fouls shouldn’t be thrown, and a nice shooting shot anywhere from 15 to 30 feet. He seems to have improved as a passer as well, using that threat to score to find bigs and cutters rolling alike. As his teammates’ level has improved as he enters the pro game, so has his ability—and willingness—to find them.

What keeps Jones on the sidelines despite his excellent all-around offensive game is, in large part, his physical profile and the perceived limitations they confer. Undersized for the forward positions, Jones also doesn’t have the great length or pace one would ideally want to see in an NBA player, which is thought to limit his ability to come in for him offensively, no matter how hard he is. is meandering. . Thought to be a bigger problem on the defensive end, somewhere Jones keeps getting better (and has never been poor), but even there he has never shined.

That said, whether or not these things are supposedly limiting its impact isn’t seen. And there comes a point where a person’s limited physical profile doesn’t matter as much as his cunning, skill, and skill.

It’s much easier to mentally accommodate junior athletes when they were already in the NBA, know the playbooks, have the reputation, and (most importantly) know the decision makers, than when they’re on the outside looking for a chance. Yet even in that 387-minute span, Jones — scoring 195 points, grabbing 64 rebounds and going for 45 assists — proved he belongs. He didn’t insist. He played within the flow.

At this juncture, Jones could be in danger of falling into the trap of forebears before him like Von Wafer and Trey Johnson, where there’s really nothing he can do at the lower levels. But before he becomes one of the best players in Europe, the front offices of the NBA must be 100% sure that a potential rotation player will not fall through their hands. If Tyler Johnson has been for so many years, why can’t Jones be? And if Buddy Boeheim can get an NBA contract right now, where’s Jones’?