Derrick Jones Jr.’s agency change casts doubt upon Mavericks return: Source

Derrick Jones Jr., a starter for the Dallas Mavericks throughout the team’s NBA Finals run, is poised to potentially enter unrestricted free agency on Sunday evening without an agency representing him, a league source said.

On Friday, longtime basketball scribe Marc Stein reported Jones was leaving his longtime agent Aaron Turner to join the Rich Paul-led Klutch Sports. Under National Basketball Player Association guidelines, however, players seeking to change representation must wait 15 days before signing with another agency, as first noted by Yahoo’s Jake Fischer.

Jones’ decision, according to a league source granted anonymity to speak freely, happened Wednesday. That move, team and league sources confirm to The Athletic, could potentially mean Jones would not have representation for teams to negotiate with until July 11, when Klutch would be permitted to take him on as a client nearly two weeks after free agency begins at 6 p.m. Eastern on Sunday.

On Sunday morning, one Mavericks source had shared optimism that this strange scenario, never before encountered, could have resolution as soon as Sunday. Jones could still negotiate his next contract through Turner, the president of Verus Management, who has represented him since entering the league. Jones and Turner could also reach a mutual agreement to waive the contractual waiting period, allowing Klutch to take him on as a client sooner.

But Jones, as of now, will not be represented by either party when free agency begins and will not immediately continue negotiations with the Mavericks, who have been allowed to negotiate with him since the Finals ended. For the first time, it casts doubt upon the likelihood he’ll return to Dallas, league sources say, which had previously been seen as a mutually desired scenario.

Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison described Jones as “priority one” in a press conference following the season. But free agency moves fast, and Dallas has other priorities that could make it difficult for the team to wait for a resolution to this situation if it lingers. The Mavericks are one of the teams expected to make a serious push for Klay Thompson, the four-time champion who’s expected to leave the Golden State Warriors after 13 seasons, as reported by The Athletic on Friday.

Under Turner’s representation, Jones signed with Dallas last summer at the league’s veteran minimum, a calculated gamble that could have earned him a total salary in the range of his $28 million career earnings.