Travelin' Man Bobby Jones

Bobby Jones is the most traveled NBA player in the least amount of time. He was drafted by the Minnesota Timberwolves but played for the Philadelphia 76ers his rookie year. He was traded and cut by the Denver Nuggets last year and signed with the Memphis Grizzlies, Houston Rockets, Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs on 10-day contracts. He re-signed with the Nuggets, traded to and cut by the New York Knicks in the summer, claimed and cut by Miami and picked up by the Sacramento Kings in training camp.

In three years, that's nine teams, 30% of the NBA. He's been moved 11 times and gone through the Nuggets and Heat twice. That doesn't include his D-League stint with the Sioux Falls Skyforce. Do you know how many uniforms he has?

He's only got a taste of what it means to be with one team when he played 41 games with the Sixers. Eight moves later he's wearing #25 for the Kings. The experience he's had constantly joining and leaving teams, that's all the motivation he needs to grab the Kings' last roster spot, not be cut with Noel Felix or join China's Zhang Kai, who's already been cut.

Jones shined the most during his 6-game stay with the Heat where he averaged 8 PPG on 53.1% shooting and 4 RPG. Even though the Heat could use any player they could grab during during their horrible 15-67 season, they don't sign him. In over 23 minutes of play per game, it was shown that even off the bench, if he was given minutes he can produce as a role player.

If he does make the team, he won't be getting much playing time. He stands behind starting small forward John Salmons, 6th man Francisco Garcia and rookie Donté Greene, who also looks at limited minutes. Greene, however, was impressive with 12 of his 18 points in the last 4:31 of the game against the Blazers. Even so, every position would be filled if he makes the roster (as shown below paragraph). The Kings could use help at the small forward position, so it wouldn't be a bad idea to add another swingman to the roster. If anyone got hurt there, he could at least fill in for a few minutes.

PG: Beno Udrih, Bobby Jackson, Bobby Brown
SG: Kevin Martin, Francisco Garcia, Quincy Douby
SF: John Salmons, Donté Greene, Bobby Jones
PF: Mikki Moore, Jason Thompson, Shelden Williams, Kenny Thomas
C: Brad Miller, Spencer Hawes

How I met Jones, I walked into the Kings' Fandemonium at ARCO Arena and saw him right in front of the doorway inside, asked a security guard who he was, because I didn't know if it was him or Felix. It was Jones, and I told him that I heard a lot about him and that I hoped that he made the team. Of course, he said that he did too. "You have the opportunity to play and show this team that you belong here," Jones said in the Sacramento Bee. "So, am I nervous? Yeah, but it's basketball at the end of the day, and I've been doing it awhile."

Coach Reggie Theus mentioned that the team might be trimmed to 15 within the week and Zhang was already cut after the loss to the Blazers, so Jones has to step up his game and score against the Oklahoma City Thunder after the 0 points, 3 rebounds and 2 TOs in 9:30. Hopefully, he'll get himself going and finally land on an NBA team that he can call home.