Heat’s Derrick Jones Jr. on impending free agency: ‘I want to be in Miami’
With the NBA season suspended amid the coronavirus pandemic and the remainder of the season in limbo, forward Derrick Jones Jr.’s future with the Miami Heat is also in question.
Jones, on a $1.6 million salary this season, is set to be an unrestricted free agent this upcoming offseason. On a conference call with local reporters Friday afternoon, Jones said he has not spent much time thinking about his impending free agency during the league’s stoppage.
“I haven’t actually given that much thought,” said Jones, who is one of 16 active NBA players slated to take part in a “Players-Only” tournament on “NBA 2K20” beginning Friday. “I’ve just been worried about the season being put back on. That’s all I really care about right now. I want to play basketball. That’s what I love to do. I go out there every day, give it 110 percent. That’s just what I want to do.
“I think I can speak for almost anybody, they don’t feel like themselves right now because they’re not playing basketball. It’s just weird. It’s just a weird time for us. I haven’t been thinking about it at all. Free agency hasn’t been on my mind.”
Jones did say that re-signing with the Heat is his preference. Miami has the cap space this offseason to keep the high-flying Jones, but finding the room to sign him to a long-term contract could be challenging because the Heat wants to preserve max cap space for the summer of 2021 for a pursuit of Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo, who can become a free agent that summer, and others in what should be a loaded free agent class.
“I want to be in Miami,” Jones said Friday while sitting in front of a pristine Miami blue sky on the Zoom conference call. “Like I told y’all before. I don’t want to leave. You see the backdrop. I love it here. This is beautiful. I want to be here my whole career. Just if I can have that and we can come to an agreement with the Heat, I’m with it. I just want to be here. This is beautiful for me and my family.”
Jones, who won the Slam Dunk Contest during All-Star Weekend in February, has averaged career highs in points (8.9), rebounds (4.2), assists (1.1), steals (1.1) and minutes (24.5) in 51 games this season. He has started 15 games.
“I just want to play basketball, that’s all,” Jones said, with the NBA suspending the season on March 11. “That’s all that I really want to do is play basketball. Like I said, I’m cherishing the time that I have right now just to be able to spend with my family, my kids and everything. Just being able to be with them every day, all day. It’s good for me right now, especially because my kids are young and they’re growing up and I travel a lot with my job. Just this time that I get to be with them, I’m really just trying to spend every moment with them.”
That includes dunking on his son’s Fisher-Price basketball rim. Jones said he has not dunked on a 10-foot rim since the Heat’s final game before the league shutdown — a March 11 loss against the Charlotte Hornets.
NBA facilities are closed to players and staff until further notice to prevent further spread of the coronavirus. Jones added that he has worked to remain active by lifting weights and riding a stationary bike at his home, and he has also spent time meditating.
“It’s just weird,” Jones said of not being able to play basketball. “Words can’t explain it. I’ve never felt this before. It’s just weird to me.”
▪ What has Heat All-Star wing Jimmy Butler been up to during the league’s shutdown?
“When I tell you I ain’t been doing nothing but drinking wine and working out, I mean I ain’t been doing nothing but drinking wine and working out,” Butler said during a recent appearance on a “What’s In Your Glass” Instagram chat with Carmelo Anthony. “I’m waiting for this thing to blow over.”
Butler added that he has used the time away from basketball to enjoy his family, especially his newborn daughter.
“If I was hooping, if I was working right now, I wouldn’t get to spend as much time with her,” Butler said. “I’m legit chilling with the family.”
