Dwayne Jones still looking for his shot
Dwayne Jones is visibly frustrated. You’d think a guy who just put up 26 points and 14 rebounds against first round draft pick Byron Mullens, in a win over his team’s conference rival, would look happier.
The 6’11″ center stands in his socks, game shorts and un-tucked jersey in the hallway outside the Toros locker room at the Austin Convention Center talking to Dell Demps. Demps, the Toros General Manager and Spurs Director of Pro Player Personnel, is doing everything he can to reassure Jones that eventually he’ll have a chance to play in the NBA again.
“Up until yesterday when Alonzo got called up nobody from our team, besides me getting a couple of workouts, got any inkling from the NBA,” Jones said. “We have some NBA talent on our team, but nobody can get the opportunity.”
Jones currently leads the D-League in rebounding with an average of 15.6 rebounds per game and is tops in double-doubles with 32 on the season, while the Toros have a 23-13 record and are second in the West Conference. Jones’ 17.4 points per game is fourth on the Toros this season despite not being a focal point of the offense. The majority of his baskets come from offensive rebounds and pick-and-roll situations.
“I more so understand my role when I do get called up, what I’ll get called up for is defense and rebounding,” he said.
It seems like a player with those qualities and awareness of his limits would fit well on an NBA bench, playing minutes. But that hasn’t been the case for Jones.
“It’s frustrating, but if you actually look at it, it’s really been a lot of guards,” Jones said about seeing other D-Leaguers get called up to the NBA. “It’s not like I’m getting passed up by other people putting up a lesser season than myself.”
Jones has been close, though. On February 23 Jones worked out for the Dallas Mavericks, who were short a big man after a finger injury to Erick Dampier. Jones thought signing with the Mavs was a foregone conclusion when he flew up to Dallas for the workout. The Mavs, he said, even went so far as to tell him what time to be at shoot around before their game against the Los Angeles Lakers the following day.
But in the end, Dallas altered course and decided to only offer a 10-day contract to Von Wafer, who was also brought in to workout for the team. Wafer was brought in to fill a roster spot after Dallas’ trade with the Washington Wizards, which netted the Mavs Caron Butler, Brendan Haywood and DeShawn Stevenson.
According to ESPN.com’s Marc Stein, the Mavs were also holding out hope that they could sign Zydrunas Ilgauskas. Ilgauskas was traded from the Cleveland Cavaliers to the Washington Wizards and bought out of his contract. Ilgauskas, though, is expected to sit out the mandatory 30 days and return to the Cavs.
Over the last several days, the relationship between the Toros and San Antonio Spurs has become clearer. San Antonio doesn’t necessarily look to Austin to fill holes on their roster and Toros players aren’t expecting their dreams of the NBA to be achieved in San Antonio. Both assumptions were solidified by Monday’s rumor that the Spurs will call up Cedric Jackson from the Erie BayHawks and Alonzo Gee’s call up to the Wizards for a 10-day contract on Sunday.
“I would love to be a Spur, but I haven’t heard too much from them on that aspect,” Jones said. “Ian Mahinmi is up there and he’s not even getting too much time.”
So instead, Toros players will play under San Antonio’s umbrella but look anywhere for their shot at the NBA. Somewhere where they can showcase their talent and contribute at the highest level in basketball.
“I’m sure I can be at the end of the bench somewhere,” Jones said. “But I’d much rather be out there, being able to contribute, as opposed to just saying that I’m on the team.”
