Thursday night's NBA draft was a frustrating time for West Virginia forward Kevin Jones.
The entire night in Newark came and went without Jones being selected, but now the frustration has come to an end, as he has been picked up by the Cleveland Cavaliers.
According to Scott Grayson of West Virginia Illustrated, Jones has agreed to a three year contract with a limited amount of guaranteed money, meaning he will be paid something whether or not he sees an NBA court, though the details are yet to be officially released, likely because free agents cannot officially sign deals until July 11.
Jones himself also made the announcement on Twitter Saturday afternoon:
Thanx to the Cleveland cavs for believing in me and my abilities, so its off to the cavs I go!!!
— Kevin Jones (@kevjones5) June 30, 2012
The Mount Vernon, New York native isn't the type of prospect who stands out to NBA scouts, as his height is modest at 6-foot-7 and won't particularly "wow" anyone with his athletic ability.
Despite all that, the fact that the 60 picks came and went without the announcement of Jones' name, was still a huge surprise for two reasons.
First, Jones has the credentials. He was arguably the best player in the Big East (finished second in BE POY voting), which is arguably the best conference in college basketball.
He had one of the best stat lines in college basketball, averaging a double-double at 19.9 points and 10.9 rebounds per game; enough to be named a second team all-American.
He was also a major part of WVU's 2010 Big East title-winning/Final Four qualifying team.
Second, and this is a big one, according to Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv (ZagsBlog.com) his agent Bill Neff said he had a a first round guarantee a few days before the draft.
“A team in the first round has committed to him,” Neff told SNY.tv. “The question is, what does that mean? I never trust anything other than what happens on draft night.
“He’ll get drafted,” Neff added. “It’s either them in the first or early second.”
Well, it ended up being neither the first nor the second, which was a surprise for not only Mountaineer fans.
Jeff Eisenberg of Yahoo Sports named Kevin Jones the best college player not to be drafted, with some talented players below him on that list, including J'Covan Brown of Texas, Scott Machado of Iona, and Jordan Taylor of Wisconsin.
Neff was among the many people to express his disappointment in Jones going undrafted, when he spoke to Michael Carvelli of The Daily Athenaeum:
"I'm disappointed in the team that told us they were going to draft him," Neff told The Daily Athenaeum following the draft. "It happens though, it's the NBA. Their word doesn't always mean a whole lot, so Kevin just has to pick himself up and keep working...Kevin's just going to have to show teams that he's a monster, and he's done it before when people don't think he can do it."
Apparently the Cavs not only agree with Neff, but believe in Jones as well, as they brought him on to join Dion Waters of Syracuse and Tyler Zeller of North Carolina, the two players they selected in Thursday night's draft.
The Cavs' depth chart is an interesting situation which may work out for KJ in the long run. Two of Cleveland's power forwards, Antwan Jamison and Luke Harangody, are free agents this year, and the third, Samardo Samuels, will be a free agent following next season.
While he may not be on the Cavs roster right away, it may be a great long-term situation for Jones. Of course, even drafted players are far from locks on their respective NBA rosters.
As WVillustrated's Grayson reported, Jones may have to spend some time for Cleveland's D-League squad in Canton, Ohio.
"You're talking Udonis Haslem," Neff stated as a comparison. "Haslem went to France for a year and worked his way through the system. We're trying to do the same thing. Kevin will go to the Summer League and may have to play some in Canton in the D-League as part of the deal. They have done this successfully in the past with other players."
While this may not seem like the most glamorous route for an athlete to take, in actuality, this may be an excellent path for a player like Jones.
After all, Haslem just won his second NBA title with the Miami Heat, a situation I'm sure Jones would be content with.
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