Fantasy Basketball: Should I Pick Up Terrence Jones?

By Dave Fuqua | Jan 29, 2015

Terrence Jones is finally back after a long layoff, and played 21 minutes in his first game against the Dallas Mavericks. Jones managed to get 10 points, five rebounds, 2 blocks, an assist, and a three-pointer in his time on the court. He definitely had some rust, but looked to be pretty solid for a player who had only played four games before sitting out for nearly three months.

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Dwight Howard is also having some injury problems right now that are kind of unclear, but it appears he could miss some time. With that kind of news, Terrence Jones could be pressed into some extra minutes even in spite of his minutes limit. The Rockets were hoping to ease Jones back into his role in the rotation, which I would expect to be around 30 minutes or so a game. Jones plays a nice stretch four for the Rockets with the ability to knock down a few threes.

Terrence Jones needs to be added right now across all formats, but he could wind up in a bit of a timeshare. The desirable thing about Jones is his upside. He has shown the ability to be a very useful fantasy player, and should be able to hold down a 30 minute a night role moving forward for the Rockets.

You might even be able to sway some owners with a fairly low-ball trade offer based on the fact that the Rockets now have Josh Smith on the roster. Smith simply has not been that effective for the Rockets. He has only managed around 20-23 minutes a game and has seen Donatas Motiejunas take around 28 of the power forward minutes per game. We could even possibly see the Rockets place Smith on waivers moving forward. A move like that would not shock me.

I do have some minor reservations that we could be staring at a 3 person timeshare with Jones, Smith and Motiejunas for the remainder of the season. However, I think that Jones will shine and lock down the bulk of the minutes. The Rockets could also use Smith to back up Trevor Ariza at SF if they decide to keep him around.

So run out and add Jones to your roster. If he is already owned in your league, then I would go ahead and float out an offer or two and see if you can acquire his services. I would not waste too much time as he could be set to notch some really nice games with Dwight Howard out of the lineup for the next two games and maybe longer.

I would also be ready to swing Jones into a sell-high player if he goes bananas while Howard is on the mend. He does have some red flags, although I can’t argue with you if you would like to keep him on your roster for the rest of the season. Jones will also carry some nice value in cats leagues as a guy who will knock down some threes from the power forward position.

So to sum it up, I would add Jones and hope that the three power forwards on that roster don’t wind up hurting each other’s fantasy values. In my gut I feel that it is Jones’ job, but he will have to earn it and prove that he deserves it. As always, I recommend that you watch the box scores and be ready to move accordingly with how the minutes are distributed.

Next: Is Tobias Harris A Buy Low Player?

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