Where Could Perry Jones Fit?

When Perry Jones joined the Boston Celtics it was anticipated that it would be a very short stint. The Celtics have too many guaranteed contracts on the books and the early favourite to be on his way out was the newest addition in Jones.

Fortunately, the offseason has gone much better than Jones could have expected with the Celtics and he now has a legitimate chance to remain with the team during the regular season. It appears as though Jones will be battling with Evan Turner in order to secure the final roster spot.

Now that it is a serious possibility that Jones will remain with the Celtics it is time to explore what kind of role he may have with the team and where he can fit into the rotation.

The good news for Jones is that the Celtics have very few players that can match him physically. Jones is 6’11 and 235 pounds and the only Celtics bigs that can match Jones’ height are far less athletic.

Mar 25, 2015; San Antonio, TX, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder small forward Perry Jones (3) dunks the ball during the first half against the San Antonio Spurs at AT&T Center. Mandatory Credit: Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports

The biggest obstacle in Jones’ way will be the depth at the power forward position. The Celtics have Jared Sullinger, Amir Johnson, David Lee, Jonas Jerebko and Jordan Mickey who will all be battling for minutes and it is hard to imagine Jones leap frogging over enough of them to have a large role on the team.

Jones does have a height advantage over all of them other than Sullinger but with how often the Celtics play small ball he may be better off looking to a different position.

Jones may have the size that suggests he is primarily a power forward but in two out of his three seasons he has primarily been a small forward and that is fantastic news for him. An unfortunate circumstance of having so much guard and power forward depth is that it has left the Celtics with absolutely no small forward depth.

Jones will be hard pressed to surpass Jae Crowder but he can provide a fantastic change of pace from the bench. Jones brings a significant height increase over Crowder and he can become very valuable in the moments when the Celtics do not play small ball.

Jones is unlikely to be as good of a defender as Crowder but he can have a more dynamic offensive impact. Last season was a nightmare form three point range for Jones but the season before that he shot a solid 36%.

Brad Stevens loves bigs that can stretch the floor and Jones has the potential to be better than both Sullinger and Olynyk. Both Olynyk and Sullinger earned roles on the team largely thanks to their ability to stretch the floor and that has made up for other short comings.

Jan 14, 2015; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Celtics head coach Brad Stevens talks with forward center Jared Sullinger (7) during the second quarter against the Atlanta Hawks at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports

Olynyk is a mess on the defensive end and Sullinger has conditioning issues, giving Jones an opportunity to earn a role stretching the floor.

The problem is that Jones has been a disaster on the defensive end early on in his career. Jones has a defensive box plus minus that has ranged from -2.5 to -8.6 and even by the Celtics’ sorry standards, those numbers are unacceptable.

Jones certainly fits the bill of the kind of big that Brad Stevens has enjoyed using but if he is not able to switch over to the small forward position he will have to show significant improvement to have a role on the team.

Evan Turner also has the potential to switch over to the small forward position but he cannot provide a height boost. Jones will not be in the starting lineup but if Stevens wants to change things up from the small ball Jones may be the best option at small forward.

Jonas Jerebko is another potential option at the small forward position but he may not be as athletically talented as Jones. Jones can bring something to the team that Stevens values highly but there are a lot of bodies ahead of him. Even if Jones beats out Turner for the final roster spot he is unlikely to have that large of a role.

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