Our player preview series for the 2026 Clippers continues with Derrick Jones Jr., one of the Clippers’ likely starting forwards.

Basic Information

Height: 6’6

Weight: 210 pounds

Position: Small Forward/Power Forward

Age: 28

Years in NBA: 9

Stats: 10.1 points, 3.4 rebounds, 0.8 assists, 1.0 steals, and 0.9 turnovers in 24.3 minutes per game across 77 games played (55 starts) on 52.6/35.6/70.3 shooting splits (2.8 3PA, 1.5 FTA) for 60.9 True Shooting

Contract Status: In the second year of a 3 year, $30M deal, making $10M this season and $10.4M next season

Expectations

DJJ is coming off a strong 2025 campaign where he served as a starter or 6^th man on a defense-first Clippers’ team that won 50 games. DJJ’s point of attack pressure and switchabilty were key elements of that defense, with DJJ probably placing as the third-most important Clippers’ defender behind Ivica Zubac and Kris Dunn. It’s reasonable to assume that DJJ will have a similar campaign in 2026, playing in the mid-20s on most nights and contributing strong defense, above-the-rim play on offense, and the occasional triple to keep defenses honest.

Strengths

Even though he’s not a truly top-tier defender, defense is the strongest element of Derrick Jones’ game and is the main reason he’s a highly valuable role player. DJJ combines size, wingspan, quick hands, and solid lateral movement to be a pesky on-ball defender that can match up against quicker guards as well as larger wings. While not big or strong enough to guard centers or powerful forwards, DJJ is a versatile defender that is adept at both individual stoppage as well as team concepts. The Clippers were such an effective defense in 2025 in large part because they could put both DJJ and Kris Dunn on the court together to terrorize opposing ball-handlers and force turnovers.

DJJ is not just a defender, however. In 2025 he broke double-digits in scoring for the first time, and was extremely efficient as a play finisher. DJJ’s most noticeable plays on offense come on his soaring dunks in transition or on offensive rebounds, but in general he’s just a fantastic finisher who utilizes his insane athleticism to go over and around defenders. DJJ took 35.7% of his shots last season at the rim, and made those shots at an absolutely insane 75.2% rate. If he was at the basket, he was scoring. That slashing ability makes DJJ a more useful offensive player than his three-point shooting would indicate.

Weaknesses

DJJ’s most glaring weakness as a player is his three-point shooting. While 2025 marked a career-best in shot percentage from deep at 35.6%, DJJ’s lack of volume (2.8 attempts) and inconsistency as a shooter made him someone opposing teams were comfortable leaving open. DJJ made them pay sometimes, as he’s certainly not a non-shooter, but he never felt like someone the defense really cared about shooting threes. That made lineups with DJJ and another non-shooter (much less two other non-shooters) cramped spacing-wise and limited driving lanes.

Outside of the three-point shot, DJJ is just a limited offensive player with the ball in his hands. Given a straight runway to the rim he’s capable of attacking closeouts and finishing, but he’s not someone who can run a pick and roll, generate a shot from a triple threat position, or make plays for others. That’s not exactly a crippling weakness, as most role players aren’t adept at those elements at the NBA level, but it is something to consider when placing DJJ in certain lineups that are light on ballhandling or creation.

Summary

Derrick Jones Jr. is an ideal role player – he’s reliable, fits with the Clippers’ best players, has a reasonable contract, and is squarely in the prime of his career. The fact that he is such a steady rotation player on a terrific deal does make him a good trade chip, but it seems unlikely the Clippers would move DJJ unless they were getting a significant talent upgrade in return. I’d expect him to play a key role on the 2026 Clippers and to cement his status as one of the better supporting pieces of this era.

Clippers 2026 Player Preview: Derrick Jones Jr.
Robert Flom

Our exit interview series on the 2025 Clippers concludes with Derrick Jones Jr., the team’s starting power forward for much of the season.

Basic Information

Height: 6’6

Weight: 210 pounds

Position: Small forward/Power forward/Shooting guard

Age: 28

Years in NBA: 9

Key Regular Season Stats: 10.1 points, 0.8 assists, 3.4 rebounds, 1.0 steals, 0.4 blocks, and 0.9 turnovers in 24.3 minutes per game across 77 games played (55 starts) on 52.6/35.6/70.3 (2.8 3PA and 1.5 FTA attempts) shooting splits (60.9 True Shooting)

Key Playoff Stats: 7.3 points, 0.3 assists, 1.9 rebounds, 0.6 steals, 1.3 blocks, and 0.4 turnovers in 18.4 minutes per game across 7 games played (1 start) on 43.8/30.0/37.5 (2.9 3PA and 1.1 FTA attempts) shooting splits (49.5 True Shooting)

Expectations

Derrick Jones Jr. was the biggest name acquisition of the Clippers’ 2024 offseason, with the team signing him to the full taxpayer mid-level exception of 3 years, $30M. Coming off a breakout season where he started for the NBA Champion runner-up Dallas Mavericks, Derrick was expected to bring excellent perimeter defense, above-the-rim play on offense, slashing in the halfcourt, and just enough three-point shooting to make him a threat from deep.

Reality

Derrick Jones Jr. mostly had an excellent regular season, setting career highs in games played, minutes per game, points per game, steals per game, and three-point percentage. He started for most of the season at power forward, not quite as expected, and joined forces with Kris Dunn to combine for one of the best perimeter defensive duos in the entire league. Meanwhile, while the three-point shooting was streaky, DJJ’s soaring athleticism resulted in numerous highlight dunks the likes of which Clippers’ fans hadn’t seen since Blake Griffin. There were not many huge scoring nights, but as a fifth starter role player, DJJ filled his role to a t.

Unfortunately, like so many other Clippers, DJJ struggled in the playoffs. The Nuggets left him wide open from three (maybe not quite as open as they left Kris Dunn, but close) and DJJ was not able to make them pay either in terms of volume (2.9 attempts) or percentage (30%). With Nic Batum playing well and the Clippers giving their star players even more minutes, DJJ’s role declined, with all of his production stats trickling down in the postseason. And, while his defense was good as always, DJJ was not really able to bother Jamal Murray much while being far too small to cover Aaron Gordon. It was a tough postseason for Derrick, just like it was for the Clippers as a whole.

Future with Clippers

Derrick Jones Jr. has two more years left on his 3 year, $30M contract. That makes him one of the few players on the roster (along with Ivica Zubac and Kawhi Leonard) with fully guaranteed money on the books after next summer. DJJ had a good season with the Clippers, is in his prime, and makes sense with the current stars, so he seems a likely candidate to remain on the roster for the duration of his deal.

However, because his contract is so easily moveable, and because DJJ himself is the kind of player that teams are always looking for, he’s also absolutely a trade piece for the Clippers. If their 2027 or even 2026 season does not go nearly as well as their 2025 season, DJJ is ripe to be moved to a playoff team for a young guy or picks. I don’t think he’ll get moved this summer unless it’s for a star, but there will definitely be teams interested in DJJ and the Clippers might bite at some point. Still, odds are DJJ will be on the roster for Opening Night 2026.

Clippers 2025 Exit Interviews: Derrick Jones Jr.
Robert Flom

Our player preview series for the 2025 Clippers continues with Derrick Jones Jr., their biggest addition in free agency this summer.

Basic Information

Height: 6’6

Weight: 210 pounds

Position: Small forward

Age: 27

Years in NBA: 8

Regular Season Stats: 8.6 points, 3.3 rebounds, 1.0 assists, 0.7 steals, and 0.9 turnovers in 23.5 minutes per game across 76 games played (68 starts) on 48.3/34.3/71.3 shooting splits with 59.2% TS

Playoff Stats: 9.1 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 0.5 steals, and 0.8 turnovers in 29.4 minutes per game across 22 games played (all starts) on 48.1/36.9/73.3 shooting splits with 57.7% TS

Contract Status: Signed a three year, $30M extension in January, making $9.5M this year

Expectations

Derrick Jones Jr. was the Clippers’ biggest offseason acquisition in terms of name and dollar amount. The Clippers inked Jones to a taxpayer mid-level exception deal fresh off his serving as a starting wing during the Dallas Mavericks’ run to the 2024 NBA Finals, including helping eliminate the Clippers in the process. Even though his contract isn’t massive, the Clippers giving him a 3 year, $30M deal would indicate they expect Jones to be a starter on this team. Early indications are he will be the starting unit’s “defensive stopper” on the perimeter, especially against guards. On the other end, Jones will be expected to make open threes, finish plays above the rim, and generally seamlessly blend into a Harden-dominated offense after doing so last year with a very similar player in Luka.

Strengths

Jones Jr. has consistently rated as a plus – albeit not great – defensive player. His size, long arms, and lateral quickness makes him an excellent cover on shorter guards, who he can really hound and bother. Jones isn’t a hefty player, so doesn’t guard up positions quite as well, but he’s a versatile, multi-positional defender who is good at accumulating steals and blocks while maintaining schemes. Clippers’ fans saw him shut down Paul George in the playoffs, and while he won’t be that good all the time, that series and the entire playoff run showed his value on defense.

The other unique element Jones brings is an above the rim presence. He’s an insane vertical athlete even by NBA standards, capable of soaring well above the rim for lob finishes. This makes him a highly useful cutter and transition player, and helps make up for his lack of shooting. Jones had 62 dunks last year, which would have been third by a mile on the Clippers last year (Zu had 112, Kawhi 76, and Mann was next with 45). The Clippers have frequently seemed slow, ground-bound, and quite frankly unathletic in recent years, and Jones is a big reversal against that trend. There will be some fun dunks in Intuit this year.

Weaknesses

Derrick Jones set new career-bests last season for three-point shooting in terms of percentage (34.3), attempts per game (3.1), and total makes (82). However, even those numbers would indicate just a below-average shooter who can make just enough for defenses to respect him. That’s still not nearly enough for defenses to close out hard, or for him to provide much in the way of spacing. Worse, there’s the chance that Jones could regress as a shooter, making him a true non-threat due to lack of volume or accuracy. Of course, there is the chance that Jones, who has increased his percentage from deep from 28 to 31.6 to 32.8 to 33.8 and then 34.3 over the past five years, could continue to improve, and that would truly be a positive swing for the Clippers.

One of the unfortunate elements of Derrick Jones Jr.’s game is his lack of contribution of “other things”. He’s a mediocre at best rebounder, which is a bit surprising considering his athleticism and size but is just a fact of life considering he’s eight years into his career. Jones is also not a ball-handler or playmaker at all. He can make simple reads in the flow of the offense and is obviously not someone who will hunt his own shot, but can’t be trusted to alleviate the playmaking burden on James Harden. Of course, if Jones did some of that stuff along with his defense and pop he’d probably be making more money, but there are real limitations to what he can offer.

Summary

Derrick Jones Jr. is set up for a big role on this Clippers’ team. His defensive aptitude and ability to play above the rim will give him some sure avenues to minutes, but the lack of offensive punch could also limit him. If Jones regresses from three, the Clippers might not be able to play him big minutes next to James Harden and Kawhi Leonard, and he could find himself in a somewhat subdued bench role. In some ways, therefore, the Clippers’ path to two-way play does rest heavily on Jones. If he can make those shots and stick on the floor on offense, his defense next to Ivica Zubac (and hopefully Kawhi) should help keep the Clippers afloat. If the shots don’t fall, the Clippers will likely have to play offense-first players like Norm Powell or Kevin Porter Jr. more, which will damage the defense. Hopefully Jones can continue on the trajectory from last year and fully establish himself as a starting-level two-way player.

Clippers 2024-2025 Player Preview: Derrick Jones Jr.
Robert Flom

At almost exactly midnight eastern last night, the major newsbreakers reported that the Clippers had agreed to sign wing Derrick Jones Jr. to a 3 year, $30M deal, pivoting right away after losing Paul George.

Jones is a 6’6, 210 pound, 27-year-old wing who has played eight seasons in the NBA for the Suns, Heat, Trailblazers, Bulls, and most recently the Mavericks. Jones had a breakout season for the Mavs, setting career highs in games played (76), games started (66), minutes per game (23.5), points per game (8.6), and three-point shooting (34.3%).

Jones is mostly known for his defense and his athleticism. The Clippers are very familiar with both after their encounter with him in the first round of the playoffs this year, where he absolutely locked up Paul George. Jones’ defensive versatility played a key role in the Mavs’ run to the NBA Finals, as his minutes per game rose to 29.4 to take on defensive assignments including George, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Anthony Edwards, and Jayson Tatum.

This is a good deal for the Clippers, who get a quality 5th starter/key reserve on a very reasonable contract. Jones will be on the Clippers through his age 30 season, and will instantly be the best point of attack defender and most athletic wing on the roster. Jones’ offense is a bit more limited, as he’s a fairly low-volume, middling percentage three point shooter, but he’s a great finisher on cuts and in transition. Still, he’s a great fit next to ball-dominant players like James Harden and Kawhi Leonard, as he’s more then happy to “do the dirty work”.

What does this mean for the Clippers’ roster building? Well, Jones is not a power forward. Right now, I’d pencil him into the starting lineup as either the shooting guard or small forward spot, alongside James Harden, Kawhi Leonard, and Ivica Zubac. Maybe the Clippers go out and get a power forward and he slides to the two. Or maybe the Clippers open up a training camp competition for the starting role between Jones, Terance Mann, and Norm Powell. There are pros and cons to each, though it’s tough to go too in-depth until the rest of the roster is finalized.

The Clippers used most of their non-taxpayer mid-level exception ($12.9M) on Derrick Jones, meaning they have the rest of that exception, the biannual exception ($4.7M), and then minimum slots to fill out the rest of their roster. However, I would anticipate multiple trades still, so a lot can still change. Stay tuned!

Clippers Sign Derrick Jones Jr. To Three Year Deal
Robert Flom