According to Chris Reichert of Upside & Motor (a D-League news site), Cameron Jones has been added to the roster for Summer Camp for the coming season with Golden State. Jones joins a collection of players that the Warriors have agreed to make-good contracts with, including JaVale McGee and Phil Pressey (and don’t forget Elliot Williams who has a partially guarantee). The Warriors continue to have a great history of developing young talent through their Santa Cruz affiliate and giving those players chances with the main roster.
Jones may not a household name with most Warriors fans, can be tied back to the Santa Cruz organization. After spending his college career at Northern Arizona State, he went undrafted but was signed originally by the Warriors back in 2013, spending two years with Santa Cruz. On a roster with future scorers like Kent Bazemore and Seth Curry, Jones found his shooting touch averaging 19.4 points per game on .400% shooting from deep. He helped the team make a long playoff run, averaging 25.4 ppg in the postseason to lead the team.
Wanna see some Cam Jones highlights? Let’s check them out:
Jones has recently seen his share of international play, first going to Russia for one season back in 2014 after not sticking on the Warriors roster. He then headed over to Israel in 2015 where he averaged 8.1 ppg for Ironi, then 15.6 ppg for Arkadikos (via Wikipedia). He has always been a scorer at every point in his career, but reminds me of a AAAA Player in the MLB; a guy who looks great playing against lesser talent, that has yet to translate when the lights get brighter.
The Warriors Summer Camp will open with arguably 14 of the 15 roster spots already accounted for. The franchise has really helped this coaching staff by giving them some primary choices for how to complete the back end of the squad; will they go with McGee to give them more depth at the 5? Will Pressey take the spot to help out with ball handling and distribution? Or will Cam Jones light it up with the 2nd and 3rd units and provide shooting off the bench that they might have lost with Brandon Rush going away? You can never have enough shooting on a roster that already has some of the best shooters on the planet.
In the end, a decision like this does not have a huge impact on the Warriors season. We are talking about the bottom end of the roster on a team that is arguably VERY top heavy. But it is always impressive to see Bob Myers and crew bringing in high-level talent with good pedigrees to help make these decisions even harder. I still give the nod to McGee for a final spot, but it will be exciting to see Jones can make his presence known.