Jones was waived by the Hawks Saturday, Chris Vivlamore of AJC.com reports.

Jones was considered a long-shot to make the Opening night roster for the Hawks. The forward last played for the Magic in the 2012-13 season. He had appeared in four preseason games, scoring 11 points in 19 minutes of action.




(cbssports.com)

There is a slam dunk champion in Hawks training camp.

DeQuan Jones is hoping his high-flying athleticism and his defensive versatility will land him a roster spot in the NBA.

Jones, from Stone Mountain and Wheeler High School, played last season in the Italian Lega Basket Series A, where he was named to the All-Star Game and won the slam dunk contest. The forward signed a non-guaranteed training camp deal with the Hawks last month and is one of six players competing for a lone roster vacancy.

“I think it’s going pretty well,” Jones said. “I think I’ve shown them that I can guard multiple positions and my athleticism can be utilized to help the team win.”

Jones is a long shot but he does have NBA experience. After playing collegiately at Miami, he signed with the Magic as an undrafted free agent in 2012 and appeared in 63 games, including 17 starts, that season. He has also played in the NBA Development League and had a tryout with the Kings.

“He brings a physicality and an athleticism too,” Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer said. “In open gym, he did a few things that were impressive. His attitude and his approach have been great. And he is somebody who has played NBA games. … It’s nice to have those guys in camp that are a little bit knowledgeable.”

Budenholzer has suggested the Hawks would carry 15 players out of camp. Jones is competing for that last spot with Lamar Patterson, Terran Petteway, Earl Barron, Edgar Sosa and Arsalan Kazemi.

Jones, at 6-foot-8, said his defensive ability is an asset in the competition. Budenholzer likes versatility and Jones said he has guarded the point guard through power forward positions.

“With the way the league is now, it allows a guy with my size, in some cases, to guard one through four,” Jones said. “That is my biggest mindset going in and it’s what I have to prove to them.”

Jones, 25, was The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Class AAAAA player of the year as a senior at Wheeler in 2008. He is glad to be back home and his mother is making a few more family dinners with her son back in town. But it was the Hawks’ player development system that was most attractive to Jones.

He and many others around the league saw DeMarre Carroll come to Atlanta as a little used player and two years later sign a free-agent contract with the Raptors worth $15 million a season.

“Aside from representing my city and state, it was the new revival of the Atlanta Hawks culture and atmosphere,” Jones said of his decision. “Given the previous success from past years, everybody is excited about this new team. It’s something I wanted to be a part of.

“Coach Bud does a great job of utilizing a player’s attributes and strengths to a team. Seeing DeMarre’s growth and development, it’s exciting playing for a coach that takes that initiative.”

Jones played with the Hawks during open gym for several weeks during the summer. Soon after, he got a call to sign a training camp deal and jumped at it. He will get an idea of where he stands when exhibition games begin next week. The Hawks open against the Cavaliers in Cincinnati on Wednesday.


(myajc.com)

The Hawks need help on the wing.

Kyle Korver returns as a strong starter, but DeMarre Carroll signed with the Raptors, and Thabo Sefolosha is out who knows how long?

Kent Bazemore will play a bigger role. Atlanta also traded for Tim Hardaway Jr. and signed Justin Holiday.

That’s still not enough, though.

So, the Hawks are creating a training-camp battle for wing depth between Jason Richardson, Lamar Patterson, Terran Petteway. Add DeQuan Jones to the fray.
Shams Charania of RealGM:

Free agent DeQuan Jones has agreed on a training camp deal with the Atlanta Hawks, league sources tell Yahoo. Jones played for ORL in 12-13.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) September 16, 2015

Petteway is the only one of the four with a guarantee, and that’s for just $75,000. This is a fairly even race.

Jones went undrafted in 2012 out of Miami and spent the next season in the rotation of a 62-loss Magic team. He hasn’t been in the NBA since.

At 6-foot-8, Jones has the size, strength and athleticism to defend well. But he needs to show he’ll actually do it to make the regular-season roster.


(nba.nbcsports.com)

With the NBA offseason slowly hitting it’s dog days, and most free agents finding homes, we see some players trying to find their way onto an NBA roster shift their focus to going overseas.

DeQuan Jones: Cantu, Italy

The two names that jump off the page right away are DeQuan Jones and Romero Osby. Jones played for the Magic during his rookie season in 2012, appearing in 63 games, scoring 3.7 points and grabbing 1.7 rebounds per game in 12.7 minutes of action. Jones was also on the Magic’s Summer League roster in 2013, and was invited to camp that same year, but was one of four cut in favor of big man Solomon Jones. 


(prestointhepaint.com)

While center Omer Asik is prominently in the New Orleans Pelicans' plans to help strengthen their frontcourt for this upcoming season, small forward Omri Casspi apparently is not.

That's because free agent small forward John Salmons agreed to a one-year, $2 million deal on Monday to join the Pelicans, a league source confirmed.
It appeared on Sunday, the Pelicans had fulfilled their need at small forward after reaching an agreement in a three-team trade to acquire center Asik and Casspi from the Houston Rockets.

But a league source said Monday that Casspi will ''most likely'' be waived after the NBA approves the trade involving the Pelicans, Rockets and Washington Wizards.

New Orleans desires a proven veteran and the 34-year-old Salmons has been in the league since 2002-03 and has a career 9.4 scoring average. He began his career with the Philadelphia 76ers, but has played for the Chicago Bulls, Sacramento Kings, Milwaukee Bucks and Toronto Raptors.

This past season, he played in 60 games for the Raptors and averaged 5.0 points and 2.0 rebounds. Salmons, 6-6, 207 pounds, has not been in a starting role since the 2012-13 season when he started 72 of 76 games for the Kings and averaged 8.8 points.

Salmon's best season came in 2009-10 after he was traded by the Chicago Bulls to the Milwaukee Bucks. In the final 30 games, which he started 28, Salmons averaged 19.9 points.

Last week, the Atlanta Hawks put Salmons on waivers to clear salary cap space after acquiring him a week earlier from the Raptors in a trade.

Despite signing Salmons, the Pelicans could still look to fill the backup small forward spot with a player on their summer league roster. Former NBA veteran Josh Howard, DeQuan Jones, James Southerland and Courtney Fells are all vying for minutes this week.


(nola.com)

Orlando Summer League: 
Trey McKinney Jones – Miami Heat
DeQuan Jones – Indiana Pacers

Las Vegas Summer League:
Rion Brown – Charlotte Hornets
Kenny Kadji – Milwaukee Bucks
Shane Larkin – New York Knicks
DeQuan Jones – New Orleans Pelicans
Trey McKinney Jones – Miami Heat
Durand Scott – San Antonio Spurs

Mo Charlo scored 22 points and Brandon Heath added 18 as the Reno Bighorns held off the Bakersfield Jam for a 103-96 win on Sunday at the Reno Events Center.

DeQuan Jones had 17 points for the Bighorns and Mickell Gladness finished with a double-double. The Bighorns shot 50 percent from the field, 50 percent from beyond the arc and 73 percent from the charity stripe.

Bakersfield's Dennis Schroder had a team-high 21 points and seven assists. Rudy Gobert tallied 14 rebounds, giving the Jam the advantage on the boards (46-36).

Although there were 13 lead changes throughout, Reno led for the majority of the game. The teams were tied at 7:16 in the fourth quarter, but the Bighorns pulled away from the Jam with a 6-0 run.

The win was Reno’s second of the weekend against Bakersfield, following a 105-98 tilt on Saturday.


(shrevporttimes.com)

Sacramento has released camp invitees DeQuan Jones and Brandon Heath.

Jones, 23, recorded averages of 3.7 PPG, 1.7 RPG, and an 8.4 PER as an undrafted rookie last season for the Magic. Heath, who went undrafted out of San Diego State in 2007, played for Lukoil Academic in Bulgaria in 2012/13, averaging 12.0 PPG and 4.7 APG in 39 contests. Both players appeared very briefly in a single preseason game for the Kings.


(hoopsworld.com)

The Kings have signed forward DeQuan Jones to a contract for training camp.

Training camp begins Oct. 1 in Santa Barbara.

Jones (6-8, 221) spent his rookie season with the Orlando Magic, appearing in 63 games last season. He averaged 3.7 points in 12.7 minutes per game after playing at the University of Miami.

The Kings already have 14 guaranteed contracts for the 2013-14 season. Ideally the 15th spot would remain unfilled to provide flexibility for possible transactions during the season.


(sacbee.com)

Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel got a half's worth of a suspension handed down to him Wednesday, an agreement Texas A&M and the NCAA reached because the star quarterback violated NCAA bylaw 12.5.2.1 by signing autographs.

Manziel will sit out the first half of the Aggies' opener against Rice Saturday, a mere slap on the wrist even though Manziel is accused of actually selling his signature to memorabilia dealers.

Not everyone seemed happy for Manziel -- including former Hurricanes basketball star Dequan Jones.

Jones was forced to sit out 11 games his senior year as part of the Nevin Shapiro booster investigation. Shapiro claimed that former UM assistant Jake Morton asked Shapiro for $10,000 to secure Jones, then a recruit. Jones was allowed to return to action after the NCAA couldn’t find evidence against him.

Jones, now in his second year with the Orlando Magic, took to Twitter to express his thoughts on how how quickly the Manziel mess was worked out.

DeQuan Jones will not receive a qualifying offer from the Magic and will become an unrestricted free agent.

He never really had a chance with the Magic selecting Victor Oladipo at two. Jones saw 17 starts last season, but played just 12.7 minutes per game in his rookie campaign. He'll play in summer league with the Magic and could catch on with another team or the Magic could even re-sign him.


(rotoworld.com)

ORLANDO, Fla. -- With all the attention paid last week to where the Orlando Magic and 13 other teams will be picking next month, it is worth remembering that there is a place in the NBA for the undrafted free agent.

DeQuan Jones is an example of that.

Despite starting in only two games as a senior at the University of Miami and never averaging as much as six points a contest in any of his four years there, the 6-foot-8 small forward turned in a rookie season that a handful of lottery picks and several players chosen in the second half of the first round might look upon with envy. 

Jones earned a spot on the roster with his speed and athletic ability in training camp and the preseason, and first-year Magic coach Jacque Vaughn inserted him into the starting lineup after Hedo Turkoglu fractured his left hand in the regular-season opener.

For a while, it felt like a flashback to the franchise's "heart and hustle" era when Doc Rivers was an unproven head coach and the Magic occasionally utilized a lineup comprised of nothing but undrafted players such as Darrell Armstrong, Bo Outlaw and Ben Wallace.

Those similarities didn't last for long. The Magic flirted with the .500 mark through their first 25 games before their inexperience and a string of injuries jolted them back to reality. And the lasting image of Jones might be when, after both Maurice Harkless and Tobias Harris had fouled out of a game at Miami, he came in cold off the bench and was entrusted with the thankless task of trying to defend LeBron James with the outcome on the line.

Jones, who had gone against James in some pickup games while still in college, had no better luck trying to stop the NBA's MVP in the closing seconds than Paul George of the Indiana Pacers did in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals. The 97-96 loss to the Heat marked one of eight times the Magic were beaten by three or fewer points.

Coming so close twice to defeating both the Heat and the Chicago Bulls gives Jones cause to think the Magic aren't as far away from playoff contention as their 20-62 record would suggest.

"I believe we're very close," he said. "This season was a direct reflection of just being in a lot of close games and with our youth being against us, so to speak, just not knowing how to close out games with the lack of experience. But I believe we can contend for a playoff spot next year."

Although the Magic are expected to continue to be in a rebuilding mode, it's unlikely they would take a small forward with the No. 2 pick in the draft. That could give Jones a decent chance at sticking around with a group of players he came to enjoy and respect.

"I know we have a lot of great guys on our team," Jones said. "But most of all, they're competitors. And whenever you deal with those types of issues, that brings out the best in you."

Fellow rookie Doron Lamb didn't have to overcome quite the same odds Jones did, but his road to the NBA was by no means smooth. Lamb, the 42nd overall selection, was inactive for 22 games with the Milwaukee Bucks and spent six games in the Development League before they packaged him with Harris and Beno Udrih in a deal before the trading deadline.

The 21-year-old guard out of Kentucky gave the Magic a taste of what he might develop into when he knocked down four 3-point field goals in their overtime win over the Bucks. Lamb is the third-youngest player on the team next to Harkless and Harris and thus figures to be part of the summer league squad the Magic will field July 7-12.

What He Did Right
It was commendable for Jones to make the roster as an undrafted rookie, much less start in 17 games. His speed and athleticism were evident, even while averaging less than 13 minutes a game. During the stretch of a few weeks in January, he was starting ahead of first-round pick Maurice Harkless at small forward and getting more playing time than him.

Where He Needs to Improve
On a team full of young players who can be categorized as works in progress, he might need the most work of all. He may never become someone for whom plays are run, but that shouldn't keep him from developing a dependable jump shot or becoming a better ball-handler. Despite his raw talent, he didn't block many shots.

Best Game
March 27 at Charlotte. This was one of the four occasions when he scored in double figures. He made six of his nine field-goal attempts, including some open jump shots, and finished with a career-high 13 points. A week later, he played 36 minutes off the bench at Chicago as the Magic almost knocked off the Bulls.

Looking Ahead
Given all the playing time Harkless and Tobias Harris received over the final seven weeks, it's hard to picture Jones being more than a low-cost insurance policy next season. He's a free agent after making the rookie minimum salary of less than $475,000.


(foxposrtsflorida.com)

CHICAGO — Rookie DeQuan Jones played one of his better games this season in the Orlando Magic's 98-84 loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday night.

Jones scored 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting off the bench.

In one sequence, Jones intercepted an errant Spurs pass, drove the length of the floor and made a finger-roll layup as he was fouled by Gary Neal. The bucket and the ensuing free throw cut San Antonio's lead to 17-16 with 4:00 left in the first quarter.

In the second quarter, Jones finished off a Magic fastbreak with a right-handed dunk that elicited a few gasps from Spurs fans inside AT&T Center.

"Coach came in and said that the teams that come in here and are successful and give themselves a chance are most times the aggressors," Jones said.

Jones is at his best in space and when he attacks the rim, but he also is showing some improvement on his jump shot.


(orlandosentinel.com)

DeQuan Jones started at shooting guard for the Magic on Wednesday and had 13 points, two rebounds, two assists, a steal and two blocks on 6-of-9 shooting.

Rather miraculously, rookie DeQuan Jones finds himself in the Magic's lineup, starting at small forward over a respected veteran and a coveted draft pick culled from the Dwight Howard deal.

Truth is, nobody expected Jones' name to come up in a conversation involving Hedo Turkoglu and Maurice Harkless.

But here he is, hearing his name called during player introductions the past eight games after making the team as an undrafted, October training-camp invitee.
"Feels like a roller-coaster ride, the highs and lows, going from not playing to starting," Jones said, shaking his head. "It's a matter of staying on an even keel, staying consistent."

It's a major opportunity for Jones, even if he has a minor role in the production.

The Magic only ask DeQuan to be what he is at the moment: an electric, versatile athlete who's learning on the fly and doesn't necessarily need the ball.

"There's certain things a player learns that can't be taught by just watching film," he said. "There's things you can only learn through in-game experience. It's just a matter of me getting accustomed to the NBA game, the ins and outs."

Coach Jacque Vaughn has seen Jones take baby steps.

"He's been improving," Vaughn said. "You watch film and he has less breakdowns for us on the defensive end, which means he's understanding the concepts better. His shot selection has been pretty good. Just his aggressiveness, being able to attack the rim and maybe get a foul.

"He's just learning, and that's the best part. He's learning along the way and he keeps getting better."

The small-forward spot has been a revolving door since Turkoglu sustained a broken hand in the opener and still struggles to fully recover.

Harkless made 20 consecutive starts until Vaughn decided to go with Jones on New Year's Eve against the Miami Heat.

In a rebuilding season featuring player development, Vaughn said he wanted to again evaluate Jones, who had made three previous starts early in the season while battling a strained groin.

"Change-wise, it was just time for me to see (Jones) in the lineup," Vaughn said. "He had been working hard … that was the base for the change, not to say Mo had not been working hard."

If you were to draw blueprints to build a player, Jones would be an ideal model at a chiseled 6-feet-8, 220 pounds.

"Physically, right now, even though he's a rookie, he matches up well with most starting 3-men in the league," Vaughn said.

Jones' stats won't wow you. He's averaging just 3.1 points and 2.1 rebounds per game, and 11.9 minutes overall. But since the beginning of January, he has averaged 5.6 points, 3.4 rebounds in 19.4 minutes while shooting 54 percent.

Jones, 22, had similar numbers during his four years at Miami. Minor role or not, he has landed a shot at the big time, trying to handle this unique opportunity to audition.

He's starting, but doesn't get starter's minutes.

He's starting, but his biggest job is to do the little things.

He's starting, but it feels as if the promotion could stop at any time.

It's as if DeQuan is a temp, perhaps keeping the seat warm for now with Turk out and Harkless watching closely. And he knows it.

"I never get complacent. I never for one second thought I was a sure lock (last summer)," Jones said. "I still don't. That's not who I am. It's just every day, come in and be ready to work."

He remembers his first NBA start after Turk was injured, facing Phoenix on Nov. 4. "During intros, they called my name. It kind of hit me," he said. "I caught a flashback when I was a kid, watching Michael Jordan. I realized I was a part of it.

"That was the defining moment, when I realized the position I was in."

Jones is playing on a one-year, minimum contract. He's still fighting to gain a career foothold.

"Absolutely," he said. "Absolutely."


(orlandosentinel.com)

proCane DeQuan Jones had season highs with 11 points and 26 minutes against the Nuggets on Wednesday, adding five rebounds, two assists, one steal and one block.

PORTLAND, Ore. — The date Jan. 10 is an important day in the NBA — and for Orlando Magic rookie swingman DeQuan Jones.

It's the day when all of the league's nonguaranteed contracts become guaranteed for the rest of the season. That's why the waiver wire has been busy in recent days, with several teams letting players go.

In September the Magic signed Jones to a one-year minimum-salary deal worth $473,604. The Magic will be obligated to pay him his remaining salary if they keep him on their roster through Thursday.

His roster spot is probably safe.

"Hopefully, that is the case," he said.

Jones, undrafted from the Miami Hurricanes, started his fourth consecutive game Monday when the Magic played the Trail Blazers at the Rose Garden.
Magic coach Jacque Vaughn said Jones' biggest improvement since the preseason has been his concentration on the defensive end of the court.


(orlandosentinel.com)