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Clippers 2025 Exit Interviews: Derrick Jones Jr.
Our exit interview series on the 2025 Clippers concludes with Derrick Jones Jr., the team’s starting power forward for much of the season.
Basic Information
Height: 6’6
Weight: 210 pounds
Position: Small forward/Power forward/Shooting guard
Age: 28
Years in NBA: 9
Key Regular Season Stats: 10.1 points, 0.8 assists, 3.4 rebounds, 1.0 steals, 0.4 blocks, and 0.9 turnovers in 24.3 minutes per game across 77 games played (55 starts) on 52.6/35.6/70.3 (2.8 3PA and 1.5 FTA attempts) shooting splits (60.9 True Shooting)
Key Playoff Stats: 7.3 points, 0.3 assists, 1.9 rebounds, 0.6 steals, 1.3 blocks, and 0.4 turnovers in 18.4 minutes per game across 7 games played (1 start) on 43.8/30.0/37.5 (2.9 3PA and 1.1 FTA attempts) shooting splits (49.5 True Shooting)
Expectations
Derrick Jones Jr. was the biggest name acquisition of the Clippers’ 2024 offseason, with the team signing him to the full taxpayer mid-level exception of 3 years, $30M. Coming off a breakout season where he started for the NBA Champion runner-up Dallas Mavericks, Derrick was expected to bring excellent perimeter defense, above-the-rim play on offense, slashing in the halfcourt, and just enough three-point shooting to make him a threat from deep.
Reality
Derrick Jones Jr. mostly had an excellent regular season, setting career highs in games played, minutes per game, points per game, steals per game, and three-point percentage. He started for most of the season at power forward, not quite as expected, and joined forces with Kris Dunn to combine for one of the best perimeter defensive duos in the entire league. Meanwhile, while the three-point shooting was streaky, DJJ’s soaring athleticism resulted in numerous highlight dunks the likes of which Clippers’ fans hadn’t seen since Blake Griffin. There were not many huge scoring nights, but as a fifth starter role player, DJJ filled his role to a t.
Unfortunately, like so many other Clippers, DJJ struggled in the playoffs. The Nuggets left him wide open from three (maybe not quite as open as they left Kris Dunn, but close) and DJJ was not able to make them pay either in terms of volume (2.9 attempts) or percentage (30%). With Nic Batum playing well and the Clippers giving their star players even more minutes, DJJ’s role declined, with all of his production stats trickling down in the postseason. And, while his defense was good as always, DJJ was not really able to bother Jamal Murray much while being far too small to cover Aaron Gordon. It was a tough postseason for Derrick, just like it was for the Clippers as a whole.
Future with Clippers
Derrick Jones Jr. has two more years left on his 3 year, $30M contract. That makes him one of the few players on the roster (along with Ivica Zubac and Kawhi Leonard) with fully guaranteed money on the books after next summer. DJJ had a good season with the Clippers, is in his prime, and makes sense with the current stars, so he seems a likely candidate to remain on the roster for the duration of his deal.
However, because his contract is so easily moveable, and because DJJ himself is the kind of player that teams are always looking for, he’s also absolutely a trade piece for the Clippers. If their 2027 or even 2026 season does not go nearly as well as their 2025 season, DJJ is ripe to be moved to a playoff team for a young guy or picks. I don’t think he’ll get moved this summer unless it’s for a star, but there will definitely be teams interested in DJJ and the Clippers might bite at some point. Still, odds are DJJ will be on the roster for Opening Night 2026.
Clippers 2025 Exit Interviews: Derrick Jones Jr.
Robert Flom