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2025 Clippers Exit Interviews: Kai Jones
Our exit interview series on the 2025 Clippers continues with former two-way big man Kai Jones.
Basic Information
Height: 6’11
Weight: 218 pounds
Position: Center
Age: 24
Years in NBA: 3
Key Regular Season Stats: 2.2 points, 1.6 rebounds, 0.4 assists, 0.5 blocks, and 0.4 turnovers in 7.4 minutes per game across 28 games played (0 starts) on 72.2/0/75 (0.1 3PA, 0.4 FTA) shooting splits (73.9 True Shooting)
Expectations
Coming into the season, expectations for Kai were minimal.
The Clippers did not have much depth at center, but with Ivica Zubac, Mo Bamba,
and Nic Batum as a small-ball option it didn’t seem as though the Clippers
would need to count on Kai much. Instead, it was expected that Kai would spend
most of the season in Oceanside developing with the G-League team, and get
minimal garbage time minutes with the big-league club.
Reality
Things were thrown off kilter by Mo Bamba’s injury, which sidelined him for the start of the season. Kai thus started the season in the Clippers’ rotation as Zubac’s backup, as Ty Lue didn’t want to overplay Nic Batum at small-ball center. Kai thus played in the Clippers’ first eight games, though he played more than 10 minutes in just two of them and played under five in three. Kai was mostly ineffective, with his offense being entirely limited to dunks around the rim and his defense a complete disaster. He played one more game in the rotation (under four minutes) before Mo returned, and was then shifted to the pine for good. Thank god.
However, even with Mo back, Kai mostly stayed up in Los Angeles, playing just 13 games in Oceanside with the G-League squad. Instead, he appeared in a bunch of blowouts, logging minutes in garbage time. Even in those instances, Kai largely failed to impress, as his sheer lack of knowledge on where to position himself on both ends of the court as well as execute simple basketball plays (like setting a firm pick and roll) resulted in numerous slip ups. The energy was great, and you always knew Kai would play hard and run the court in transition. Everything else though, was not NBA caliber.
Thus, it was not a huge surprise when the Clippers waived Kai on March 1 as part of their transactions involving Jordan Miller’s conversion to a full NBA contract. Kai signed with the Mavericks two days later, and played in 12 games for them during their injury-ravaged phase down the stretch of the season. He even had a couple big box-score performances – though watchers noticed the same weaknesses he displayed with the Clippers.
Future with Clippers
Kai has probably shown just enough that he could get another two-way deal or a minimally guaranteed training camp deal in the NBA next year. However, considering the Clippers’ swiftness in moving on from him, it’s very unlikely said deal would be with the Clips. Kai seems like a hard worker, and I hope he can stick in the NBA for a bit, but I remain very skeptical. He seems like someone whose boundless athleticism would make him a true force at a lower level in Europe or elsewhere overseas. If he wants to make it in the NBA, his fundamentals need to improve, and probably significantly so.