© Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
Tuesday the Golden State Warriors announced that they exercised the fourth-year option on Damian Jones’ contract, keeping the young center in a Warriors uniform through the 2019-20 season.
“Jones, 23, has started all eight games for the Warriors this season, averaging 6.0 points on 77.8 percent from the field to go with 2.4 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 16.9 minutes per game,” the team said in a news release. “Originally selected by the Warriors with the 30th overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, Jones has appeared in 33 career regular season games in addition to eight postseason games as a member of both of Golden State’s previous two championship teams.
“Under the terms of the NBA’s current collective bargaining agreement, the first two years of a first-round draft pick’s contract are guaranteed, while the third and fourth year of the contract are the team’s option.”
Jones is making a little over $1.5 million this year. That number will raise to just south of $3.5 million for next year.
Jones’ development for the Warriors has been methodical, but the team’s patience in the young big man has paid off this year. After spending the majority of his first two years in Santa Cruz with the the team’s G League affiliate the Vanderbilt product has started all eight games in his third season in the league.
The uber-athlete has won the battle for early-season center minutes over Kevon Looney and Jordan Bell because of his size and high ceiling. Of course, all that will change when one DeMarcus Cousins returns to the lineup when he’s fully healed from his torn achilles.
But it looks like Kerr and Co. have seen enough of Jones that he’ll be in the team’s plans going forward, at least for another year.