Chicago Bulls: Derrick Jones Jr. a great shot blocker on the wing

What the Chicago Bulls are getting out of the former Portland Trail Blazers and Miami Heat uber-athletic two-way small forward Derrick Jones Jr. is a burning question on the minds of many hoops fans in the Windy City. Executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas and general manager Marc Eversley got a nice deal done this week in a three-team sign-and-trade deal to nab Jones.

The Bulls shipped off the restricted free agent and fourth-year power forward Lauri Markkanen to the Cleveland Cavaliers in a three-team sign-and-trade deal that landed Jones in Chicago. This deal also netted the Bulls a lottery-protected future first-round draft pick from Portland and a future second-round draft pick from Cleveland.

The player movement here involved Markkanen to Cleveland, forward Larry Nance Jr. to Portland, and Jones back to the Bulls.

This deal looked to be a good one for the Bulls to help start rounding out the roster for head coach Billy Donovan ahead of the start of Training Camp and the preseason (which is now less than one month away).

It appeared that Karnisovas and Eversley had their eye on Jones for a good while now. He is another nice and needed defensive boost for the Bulls, that can play at the two or the three. Jones could even play some minutes for the Bulls at the four in a small ball second unit.

What Bulls fans shouldn’t gloss over following the addition of Jones is the fact that he is a very stout defender. And the Bulls adding key pieces such as the former Los Angeles Lakers point guard Alex Caruso, New Orleans Pelicans point guard Lonzo Ball, and Jones will help Donovan add some defensive punch to the rotation.

The Bulls will need the defensive help in this rotation considering that the star trio of center Nikola Vucevic, shooting guard Zach LaVine, and shooting guard/forward DeMar DeRozan, is not great on that end of the floor. But having the likes of second-year forward Patrick Williams, Lonzo, Caruso, shooting guard Javonte Green, Jones, etc. will help on defense to offset any other negative presences.

More specifically, what the Bulls are getting out of Jones is a stellar defender that has the physical tools to match up with really any guard, wing, or forward.

Chicago Bulls add a lot of defensive value in Derrick Jones Jr.

According to the 538 RAPTOR defensive ratings from last season, both Caruso and Jones ranked in the top 30 in the Western Conference in overall defensive RAPTOR. Jones also brings a career 0.5 defensive box plus/minus to the table. That would be higher if not for playing with a pretty bad defense last season with the Trail Blazers under now-former head coach Terry Stotts.

But a lot of the more individualized advanced metrics on defense last season showed some of the true value that Jones brings to the table. Jones registered around a 1.5 steal percentage last season, and a block percentage around four.

Of forwards that started in at least 20 games during this past regular season, Jones was one of two that registered a block percentage of at least 3.5. The only other one was the Charlotte Hornets rookie forward PJ Washington.

The 2020-21 campaign was also the fourth season of his NBA career that Jones registered a block percentage north of two. His physical tools were something that the Blazers, Phoenix Suns, and Heat, put to the test for Jones and he passed with flying colors.

In terms of particular matching tracking last season, Jones had some pretty impressive numbers. In matchups that were tracked individually, there was a big-time trio of players that Jones registered at least three blocks on. That trio included the newly acquired Bulls wing DeRozan, and the Pelicans star forward duo of Brandon Ingram and Zion Williamson.

There were three other players that Jones registered two blocks against. Those three players were the Lakers superstar forward LeBron James, Heat guard Victor Oladipo, and Philadelphia 76ers star center Joel Embiid.

Plenty of evidence exists for how good of an on-ball defender Jones can be. And given the other solid defensive guards and wings that the Bulls have in the mix heading into next season, Jones will be very valuable for Donovan.

Jones, Donovan, and the Bulls are set to open up the preseason slate on Oct. 5 at home at the United Center against Markkanen and the Cavs. And then, the regular season slate is set to open up against a fellow divisional foe on the road on Oct. 20 in the Detroit Pistons.