Mike Watters-USA TODAY Sports
The Cleveland Cavaliers are on track to return a roster in the 2024-25 campaign that will look very similar to last season’s group, but not everyone is returning, with veteran center Damian Jones among the departures.
The Cavs acquired Jones ahead of the 2023-24 season from the Utah Jazz, and he became a free agent when the season ended. Now, he’s starting a new chapter in his basketball journey by joining the Zhejiang Golden Bulls in China, per HoopsHype.
The move for Jones comes after eight seasons in the NBA. It’s possible that there wasn’t much of a market for him in NBA free agency this offseason, or there could have been other factors at play making the Golden Bulls an appealing option for him.
In the 2023-24 regular season, Jones appeared in 39 games for the Cavs. In 6.9 minutes of action per contest, he averaged 2.7 points, 1.6 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game while shooting 59.7 percent from the field. He also appeared in two playoff games but averaged just 4.5 minutes per outing in those matchups.
Earlier in his career, he won two championships with the Golden State Warriors — both of which came against the Cavs. He was part of the Golden State teams that defeated Cleveland in the 2017 and 2018 NBA Finals.
Jones saw limited action during those title runs, but in the following seasons, he was able to earn some solid playing time as he bounced around the league.
His most productive NBA season came during the 2021-22 campaign with the Sacramento Kings, when he averaged 8.1 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game across 56 appearances and 15 starts. He was very efficient in the process, knocking down 65.8 percent of his shots from the field and 34.5 percent of his shots from deep. Jones averaged 18.2 minutes per game that season.
Since his role with the Cavs in the 2023-24 season wasn’t very big, he’s likely hoping to get more playing time with the Golden Bulls in China. At 29 years old, he should still have several seasons of basketball left in him, and he’ll look to tap into the talent that made him a first-round pick back in 2016.
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