Posted: April 5, 2010
The Phoenix Suns today announced that the club has signed forward/center Dwayne Jones, who was most recently a member of the Austin Toros of the NBA Development League. Jones becomes the league’s 34th GATORADE Call-Up this season and is playoff-eligible for Phoenix.
The 2009-10 D-League rebounding leader joins the Suns after spending this season in Austin where he averaged 17.6 points (18th) and a league-best 16.0 rebounds in 40.0 minutes in 48 games (48 starts). The 6-11, 250-pound Jones averaged four rebounds more than any other D-Leaguer and led the league with 43 double-doubles, 15 more than the nearest player. His 59.8-percent field goal percentage ranked third-best.
A D-League standout, the St. Joseph’s (PA) product also has NBA experience after spending parts of each of the last four seasons with Charlotte Bobcats (2008-09), Cleveland Cavaliers (2006-07, 2007-08) and Boston Celtics (2005-06). His longest NBA stint came in 2007-08 with the Cavs where he saw action in 56 regular season games, averaging 1.4 points and 2.5 rebounds in 8.4 minutes. Jones also earned postseason experience after seeing action in five games with Cleveland in the 2008 NBA Playoffs.
Jones owns career D-League averages of 14.7 points, 13.7 rebounds and 35.4 minutes in 110 games (106 starts) with the Florida Flame (2005-06), Albuquerque Thunderbirds (2006-07), Iowa Energy (2008-09), Idaho Stampede (2008-09) and Austin Toros (2008-09, 2009-10).
Playoff-bound for the 29th time in the club’s 42-year history, the fifth-seeded Suns are one of four Western Conference teams with a 50-27 record and own the same mark as the second-place Dallas Mavericks. The Suns return to action Wed., April 7, hosting the San Antonio Spurs (47-29) at 7 p.m. at US Airways Center. The game can be seen on both ESPN and FOX Sports Arizona and heard on Sports 620 KTAR.