© Brett Davis | 2019 Jan 15
The Damian Jones era in the Bay is over. The Warriors have reportedly moved on from the fourth-year center, and a second-round pick (the fourth the team has traded away this offseason) for second-year Hawks forward Omari Spellman, who dropped to the final pick in the 2018 NBA Draft last season at number 30 after being projected as a potential late lottery pick in some drafts.
The trade is no surprise. Jones showed little sign of improvement in Summer League as we examined here, and for a fourth-year player on a team that isn’t ready to stop contending, the Warriors finally moved on from Jones (also a 30th overall pick, but in the 2016 NBA Draft) for a player that is cheaper, younger, and more promising. We examined the possibility of a Damian Jones trade here, and how trading Jones, especially for a player with less than three years of NBA service time, would create space for the Warriors under the apron, which the Warriors cannot exceed as a result of the D’Angelo Russell sign-and-trade deal.
Spellman’s deal, as a player on the first-round draft pick rookie scale, will cost the Warriors more than the minimum, but at $1.897 million, it’s less than Jones’ $2.305 million deal, and could potentially open the door for a late-season signing by giving the Warriors more space under the apron.
In his rookie year last season, Spellman played 46 games, averaging 5.9 points (40.2 percent from field, 34.4 percent from 3-point), 4.2 rebounds and 1.0 assists in 17.5 minutes per game.
