Nuggets Latest Signing

With everyone talking about all these Olympic players that we should sign I wanted to talk about someone we actually signed that got little to no attention. I’m talking about the 6’7 forward out of Stanford Spencer Jones. Now frankly most 2 ways aren’t worth talking about but Spencer Jones is different because of one particular skill his shooting.

Before I get into the numbers I want to talk about why I think Jones 3pt shot is so good. Not only is he 6’7 but he has one of the highest release points that I’ve ever seen. He almost shoots it directly over his head and this allows him to get his shot off with little to no space. He knows that he’s not going to get blocked so closeouts or hard contests do not bother him a trait that all of the best shooters have. A couple of examples which are very reminiscent of the shots MPJ and Klay regularly make.

Now to start off with the numbers Jones shot 43% 81/188 as a freshmen on over 10 3PA/100. If we look at freshmen that achieved similar numbers (40% or better from 3, 10 3PA/100, >150 3PA, High Major school) we only get 21 players in the last 16 yrs. Some of these names include elite shooters  like Dlo, Jamal, Joe Harris, Gary Trent Jr, Isaiah Joe, and Klay Thompson. This isn’t just to show that Jones has always been an elite shooter but I brought this up because Jones is a 5th year senior which means that for his whole college tenure he was guarded like a sniper and he still managed to be a career 39% 3pt shooter on 5.4 attempts showing his shooting prowess.

To further see how impressive his numbers are we’ll do another search but this time for his career shooting stats. if we look at 6’4 and taller players that shot at least 10 3PA/100 (min 500 3pa) on over 38% at a high major school you get 27 players in the last 16 yrs. This exclusive list of shooters includes Klay Thompson, Cam Johnson, Joe Harris, Sam Hauser, and Duncan Robinson some of the best shooters in the NBA and in Klay and Joe Harris’s case of all time. Now is he going to shoot at the level of the aforementioned players? Maybe, maybe not but one thing I’m certain about is that Jones can shoot at a very high level. 

Now the big question is will he get any playing time after all he is only on a 2 way contract. He is a good defender which should help his case a lot and this gives him a clear 3-D role but if there’s a position we’re not short on is forwards. Since this is the position we’re the deepest in I can’t see Jones getting playing time this season unless we have multiple injuries or we severely need shooting. Nonetheless Spencer Jones is an incredible two way signing and it gives us at worst much needed insurance in the 3-D department one of the most valuable skillsets in the league.