The Cleveland Cavaliers have weathered the storm of injuries to start the season and hope to get back to winning basketball games and working their way up the standings in the coming weeks. One fringe benefit of missing Jarrett Allen and Darius Garland for so many games was the opportunity to see how reserve players stepped up.
Unfortunately for the Cavs, one player who did not step up was backup center Damian Jones. After trading for Jones this past summer to be the defensive like-for-like replacement for Allen, he got plenty of run during the first two weeks of the season. The results were unremarkable.
When Jones has been on the court this season he is mostly ignored, by both his teammates and the opposing team. He did very little to earn touches or to make his presence felt on either end of the court. Tristan Thompson, despite being nearly out of the league a year ago, has passed Jones in the pecking order and is now operating as the backup center.
The Cavs could keep Jones around as center depth, but it’s unlikely he is going to gain back any trust from the coaching staff. He does still have value around the league as a positive defender, and teams with a need for center depth may take a flier on Jones given his minimum salary. Here are two teams that may be desperate enough to trade for Jones.