Playing time could be a factor in Jones' decision

I caught up with James Jones today to see if he and his agent, Joel Bell, have had any preliminary talks about his player option situation, and found out that the situation is pretty much unchanged from the season's end.

Jones is relaxing with his family at his home in Miami and getting ready for a trip to Hawaii early next month. He said he probably will not discuss whether to activate the option on his contract until after the NBA Finals are completed next month because it is tough to get an accurate feel for the free agency market before that time. Jones has until late June to make his decision.

But Jones acknowledged that the potential playing-time crunch at small forward next season will factor in to the decision. He stressed that it will not be a make-or-break factor, but it will be a strong consideration. The situation boils down to this: A healthy Greg Oden and improving Channing Frye could push Travis Outlaw back to small forward next season, creating a bottleneck at that position. And if Rudy Fernandez chooses to join the Blazers, where he would likely be Brandon Roy's backup as a rookie, that bottleneck will grow even tighter. Should Jones activate his option (worth $3.2 million), he, Martell Webster and Outlaw would all be battling for playing time at the same spot, and the contract situations for each player could create an intensely competitive environment. Both Jones and Webster would be in the final years of their contracts and looking to improve their free-agency stock, while Outlaw will be playing to entice the Blazers to activate the team option on the third year of his contract (which appears almost certain at this point, but a rough year and a situation where any of those three could be pushed out of the regular rotation could change any certainties).

Jones is not concerned about the competition, though, having already carved out a solid career by being productive in limited amounts of time. He averaged a respectable 8.0 points and buried 91 3-pointers last season despite playing in only 58 games and averaging 22.0 minutes off the bench.

"I can be efficient in any amount of time that I'm given," Jones said. "I'm not worried about that."

The part that Jones will consider, though, is his free-agency stock. After battling knee trouble throughout last season and having his numbers plummet thanks to a horrid shooting slump late in the season, Jones' stock this summer may not be super-hot. But should Jones activate his option and return to the Blazers next year, he will be gambling that he will be able to raise his stock for the following summer in that highly competitive situation. Should Jones get pushed out of the regular rotation and wind up being the 11th or 12th man off the bench -- a realistic possibility considering how deep the Blazers appear to be next season -- his free-agency stock could take a hit next summer.

And that gives Jones something to consider over the next month: Should he test the market this summer while he's coming off a solid season? Or believe that he can continue to be effective next season and improve his standing on the market next summer?

"That will definitely be a part of my decision," Jones said. "It will be a factor, but not the factor."

(coumbian.com)