Derrick Jones Jr., the Dallas Mavericks‘ starter during the team’s run to the NBA Finals, is set to potentially enter unrestricted free agency on Sunday night without an agency representing him, a league source said.
On Friday, veteran basketball writer Marc Stein reported that Jones was leaving his longtime agent Aaron Turner to join Klutch Sports, run by Rich Paul. However, under National Basketball Players Association guidelines, players looking to change representation must wait 15 days before signing with another agency, as noted by Yahoo’s Jake Fischer.
Jones’ decision, according to a league source who was asked to remain anonymous to speak freely, occurred Wednesday. That move, team and league sources confirm to The Athletic, could mean Jones would not have representation for teams to negotiate with until July 11, when Klutch would be allowed to sign him as a client nearly two weeks after free agency begins at 6 p.m. Eastern time on Sunday.
On Sunday morning, a Mavericks source had expressed optimism that this strange, never-before-seen situation could be resolved as soon as Sunday. Jones could still negotiate his next contract through Turner, the president of Verus Management, who has represented him since he entered the league. Jones and Turner could also reach a mutual agreement to waive the contractual waiting period, allowing Klutch to take him on as a client sooner.
But Jones, as of now, will not be represented by either side when free agency begins and will not immediately continue negotiations with the Mavericks, who have been allowed to negotiate with him since the Finals ended. For the first time, this casts doubt on the likelihood of him returning to Dallas, league sources say, which had previously been viewed as a mutually desired scenario.
Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison described Jones as the “No. 1 priority” in a postseason news conference. But free agency is moving quickly, and Dallas has other priorities that could make it difficult for the team to hope for a resolution to this situation if it persists. The Mavericks are one of the teams expected to make a serious push for Klay Thompson, the four-time champion who is expected to leave the Golden State Warriors after 13 seasons, The Athletic reported Friday.
Under Turner’s representation, Jones signed with Dallas last summer for the league’s veteran minimum, a calculated gamble that could have earned him a total salary in the range of $28 million in career earnings.
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