Despite being a second-round draft choice in 2021, Herbert Jones continues to make the kind of impact you’d more reasonably expect from a lottery pick – or perhaps a savvy, 10-year NBA veteran. As New Orleans first-year head coach Willie Green described after Friday’s 113-105 win in Denver, the University of Alabama product doesn’t play like he’s only been a pro since last July, when he was chosen No. 35 overall by the Pelicans.
“Even though he’s a rookie, he seems like he’s been in the league five or six years, the way he processes the game,” Green said, after Jones piled up 18 fourth-quarter points to help beat the Nuggets.