"Glad that he got his head on straight" - Derrick Jones Jr. on Luka Doncic's trade to Lakers, Kawhi Leonard's leadership and more (Exclusive)

Once again, the LA Clippers have dealt with season-long fluidity with both overlapping injuries and inconsistent play. At least they have one source of stability in forward Derrick Jones Jr.

After leaving the Dallas Mavericks for the Clippers last summer as a free agent, Jones has produced what Clippers coach Tyronn Lue described as a “a career year in a lot of different departments.”

The Clippers (32-27) enter Sunday’s game against the LA Lakers (37-21) with Jones averaging career-highs in scoring (10.4 points per game), 3-point shooting (35.6%) and minutes (24.9 per game).

“It’s just him being a great glue guy and understanding that every night, it’s something different,” Lue said. “He’s up for that challenge as well to do different things for our team to be successful.”

Jones spoke to Sportskeeda about his strong season with the Clippers, former Mavericks teammate Luka Dončić getting traded to the Lakers, James Harden’s underrated defense and more.

Editor’s note: The following one-on-one conversation has been edited and posted.

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Derrick Jones Jr. Exclusive

NBA: Los Angeles Clippers at Utah Jazz - Source: Imagn

What explains your instant fit with the Clippers?

Jones:

“It’s just me having the same confidence as always. Whenever my opportunity comes, I go to score, I go to be aggressive or I make a play for somebody else. When I’m always on the floor, I’m always being aggressive and not having any seconds thoughts. On defense, I’m just being who I am. With rebounding, I feel like I could do a lot more. I’m starting to get better at it. But I have to go down there and grab a lot more rebounds.”

Why do you feel you can do more?

Jones:

“Really just getting the ball. I need to go get the ball. I need to finish games better. Getting two, three or four rebounds at the small or power forward position isn’t really ideal. I have to go out there and grab a few more. I can’t leave it all up to Zu.”

What do you think you’ve done defensively so far?

Jones:

“For me personally, I feel like I could do a lot better on the ball sometimes. It’s just about being able to stay in front of my man and not have those lapses. Sometimes it’s just a split second that gives the offensive player an advantage on you. So for me, I just got to stay locked in for 48 minutes in the game. Then I’ll be good. I can’t take any plays off no matter how tired I am. It’s always just about pushing through.”

Ty seems pretty pleased with your play and noted you’ve been having a career year…

Jones:

(interrupts) “Yeah, everybody else’s view is going to be different than how I view myself. But I feel like I can do a little bit better.”

How have you seen Ty manage everything with all the overlapping injuries?

Jones:

“He’s been doing a great job. It’s not my job to question or judge that. But he’s been doing a great job.”

What impact has Jeff Van Gundy made with the team defensively?

Jones:

“He’s been great. We’ve had a top-five, top-10 defense. Our last few games, we’ve had bit of slippage. But we’ll be able to get it back together and get everything back on track. He emphasizes everything defensively. If there is anything that has to do with defense, he’s making sure that it’s happening.”

What was it like going up against Luka after being his former teammate?

Jones:

“He’s my guy. He’s always going to be my guy, for sure. But that was definitely fun being able to be out there and play against him. Being able to see him happy on the floor is always good. I always look at him like a brother.”

How was he like a brother to you?

Jones:

“He always showed that he cared about his teammates on and off the court. He’s not a selfish guy. Whenever he was doing something, he was always letting the whole group know. If he wants the whole group to be there, he’s always going to make sure of it.”

How did you react when you heard the news that Dallas traded him?

Jones:

“I thought it was fake. I didn’t believe it. It’s a business, at the end of the day. So you never know what can happen. I’m just glad that he got his head on straight. He moved on, and he’s ready to hoop.”

Once it was clear the trade actually happened, how did you process it?

Jones:

“I’m not saying I didn’t care. But it really had nothing to do with me. So I was just focused on myself.”

Understood. Well, focusing on your season: You get to play with Harden. You’ve said one of the keys is to always push the pace and run with him. How have you made that work?

Jones:

“Just being able to get out and run, we have a lot of athletic guys on the floor. There’s a lot of smart guys on the floor, too. So it’s just about being able to give him options and to give him a break sometimes. That makes it easier where he can just hoop. He’s got great shooting accuracy and handles and makes great passes. So he’s going to put the ball on the money every time. We just got to go get it.”

You’ve said you’ve really been impressed with his leadership. What makes him a good leader?

Jones:

“He’s very vocal. He’s one of those guys that leads by example. Guys are always saying he’s not the greatest defender. But ever since I’ve been here, I’ve seen him do nothing but sit down and play defense a lot. He’s getting steals. He’s disrupting passing lanes. He’s defending on the ball, being aggressive and making the offensive player play on his heels sometimes. It’s different when you are on the same team with the guy than going against him. You might think when you’re against him, you might think something that really isn’t. So when you get here, it’s totally different for me. He is definitely doing his thing on the defensive end?”

What do you think his off-season get together at ASU did for the group?

Jones:

“It built the chemistry a little bit earlier. We were out there hooping. Whenever we had the chance, we were out there hooping. And then off the court, we hung out as much as possible and just chilling. It was a good time for us to bond and get our communication started.”

When Kawhi was out at the beginning of the season, what was his presence like behind the scenes?

Jones:

“He was always around. He was always making his voice heard. When he was sitting there watching and seeing something that somebody should do differently, he’s going to let them know. He’s that leader that we look to. He’s always going to be there.”

Did he give you any feedback like that?

Jones:

“Nah, not that I can think of right now. But defensively, I sit there and watch him. I watched him his whole career, really. I feel like I’m pretty much that defender. If I can use any help, for sure, I’m going to go to him.”

Similar to what you were remarking about having a deeper appreciation for Harden that you’re teammates with him, what are the things you have a deeper appreciation for with Kawhi?

Jones:

“He’s a hooper. He’s a certified hooper. You put the ball in his hands, and he knows what to do with it. That’s plain and simple. You can’t speed him up. He plays at his own pace. I’m glad he’s out there having fun with it.”

What’s your comfort level with where things are as you all gear up for the playoffs?

Jones:

“It’s through roof. My comfort isn’t going to change. I feel comfortable out there. Since the moment I got here, they made it easy for me to be comfortable. They told me to be who I am, don’t shy away from shots and be aggressive defensively and offensively. But I’m never going to be comfortable losing games. Obviously, I want us to win a lot more games than we’re losing. But we have another one on Sunday. So we can go there and redeem ourselves.”

Mark Medina is an NBA insider for Sportskeeda. Follow him on X, Blue Sky, Instagram, Facebook and Threads.