Herb Jones’ representatives, Mark Bartelstein and Kieran Piller of Priority Sports, informed ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Andrew Lopez on Friday that he has reached an agreement on a new four-year, $54 million contract to remain with the New Orleans Pelicans.
Jones chose not to exercise his option to join New Orleans on a long-term basis.
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Jones, a 6-foot-8 forward who was selected by the Pelicans in the second round of the 2021 draft, rapidly earned a spot in the starting lineup due to his defensive prowess. Over the course of his first two seasons, Jones started 135 of a possible 144 games for New Orleans.
Jones has been in the top 10 in the league in steals in both of his seasons. For his career, he has averaged 9.7 points and 1.6 steals per game. He received votes this past season and narrowly missed being named to an All-Defensive team during his freshman year.
Jones has blended in perfectly with the Pelicans ever since his first game with them. Jones ticks all the boxes for being a significant player in this league: he is selfless on the offensive end of the floor, he poses a danger to not just make a play defensively but also to speed up the game in transition.
The Pelicans’ decision to sign him to a new, long-term contract is optimal because the former second-round pick is still only 24 years old and has plenty of time to develop his offensive game.
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After a shaky start, Jones did find some improvement in his shot late, going 44.4% on 2.3 attempts per game after the All-Star break. Jones hit 33.7% from 3-point range as a rookie and 33.5% last season.
Prior to the Pelicans rejecting his option, Jones was scheduled to earn $1.8 million the next season.
