After being picked in the second round of the 2021 NBA Draft and No. 35 overall by New Orleans, Herbert Jones was billed as a defensive-minded forward who needed to make some strides offensively in order to earn playing time. Those improvements already seem to be well under way for the 23-year-old.
A starter in 15 of his 24 games, the rookie has reached double digits in scoring seven times, topped by a career-best 19-point outing vs. Denver on Wednesday. Although “shooting” was universally listed as a weakness in pre-draft scouting analysis of the University of Alabama product, the early returns are impressive – he’s at 48 percent from the field and 77 percent at the foul line.