2014 Rookie/Free Agent Camp

Wheat Hotchkiss

The past two seasons have been quite the journey for Kevin Jones. In that span, he’s played in three leagues and two countries, suiting up for both the Cleveland Cavaliers and the San Miguel Beermen.

You read that right – the San Miguel Beermen.

Now, Jones is in rookie/free agent camp with the Pacers, hoping to fight his way back to the NBA.

The 6-foot-8, 251-pound forward has made a fast impression. On the second day of camp, Pacers assistant coach Dan Burke (who is running the camp and coaching the team’s Summer League entry in Orlando) was asked which players had stood out to him so far. Jones’ name was the first (and only) one he mentioned.

“Kevin, he’s got ability to use his body, create angles,” Burke said on Wednesday. “He runs the floor, he shoots the mid-range jumper. He’s a great rebounder…He’s that one that’s really jumped out for me.“

Jones went undrafted two years ago out of West Virginia, where he was a consensus Second-Team All-American and led the Big East in scoring as a senior. But he found his way to the league, appearing in 32 games for the Cavaliers during the 2012-13 season and splitting time between the NBA and Canton Charge in the Development League.

He returned to Canton at the start of last season and had another strong campaign. Jones was named a starter in the 2014 NBADL All-Star Game and averaged 16.9 points and 8.0 rebounds in 38 games.

But after consultation with his agent, Jones opted to leave the D-League in March to accept a more lucrative contract offer in the Philippines Basketball Association (PBA) with the San Miguel Beermen. It turned out to be an experience Jones, who had never played overseas before, will never forget.

The PBA only allows one foreign player per team (other Americans playing there this season included Darnell Jackson, who was on the Pacers’ training camp roster in 2013, and former University of Memphis forward Robert Dozier).

In addition, the league won’t allow players taller than a certain height. At 6-foot-8, Jones was right below that threshold. Despite having to adjust to unfamiliar surroundings, Jones dominated play in the league’s short season, averaging 26.6 points and 15.1 rebounds in nine games.

After returning to the States, Jones caught the eye of Pacers scouts at a mini-camp earlier this summer and earned an invitation to try out for rookie/free agent camp.

As for what he’s done so far in camp to catch Burke’s eye, Jones insists it’s been nothing out of the ordinary. He said he just tries to listen to the coaching staff and compete as hard as he can.

Jones lists his own strengths as rebounding, hustle, and basketball IQ, but also thinks having experience in the NBA gives him a bit of a leg up on some of the less-seasoned players in camp.

“I’m still learning as well as they’re learning, but just (having) that gear under my belt of NBA experience taught me how to conduct myself and how to come in and work every day,” Jones said. “So I would say I have a slight advantage.”

If he continues to impress in Orlando over the next week, Jones just might be donning an NBA uniform once again this fall.

Shayne Whittington, a 6-foot-10 center who signed with the Pacers on Wednesday, made an appearance in camp on Thursday.

However, Whittington will not be travelling to Orlando for Summer League, as he continues to recover from breaking the fibula in his left leg during a workout in Chicago on May 8. He recently got out of his walking boot but is currently limited in what he can do on the court – he still hasn’t been cleared to begin running.

Whittington recently finished his career at Western Michigan, where he averaged 16.1 points, 8.9 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks as a senior. His focus now is on recovering enough that he is “full-go for training camp."

Prior to his injury, Whittington had impressed at the Portsmouth Invitational, where he showcased his mobility and an expanded range on his shot.

“Every shot that I took in college was either a (end of) shot clock situation or a pick-and-pop kind of thing, and they were always 15-footers,” Whittington said. “…I really extended my range in the three weeks that I had before Portsmouth.”

Pacers forward Solomon Hill is hoping to use Summer League to prove that he’s ready for an expanded role in his second year, but those plans hit a small road bump Wednesday night, when Hill sprained his right ankle.

“At the end of the scrimmage, I just kind of came down on it wrong and it swelled up on me,” Hill said Thursday.

Hill’s official status is day-to-day. He hopes that the swelling goes down quickly so that he can fully participate in all of the Pacers’ Summer League games.

The Pacers announced Thursday they have released guard Eric Atkins and forward C.J. Leslie from their rookie/free agent camp roster.

That leaves 14 players on the camp roster. Indiana will practice one more time on Friday morning before heading to Orlando, where their first game is scheduled for Saturday at 9:00 a.m.

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Notebook: Jones Making Fast Impression

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INDIANAPOLIS – The Indiana Pacers announced Thursday they have released guard Eric Atkins and forward C.J. Leslie from their rookie/free agent camp roster. The Pacers also announced forward Solomon Hill will be day-to-day with a sprained right ankle, sustained in Wednesday’s evening practice. The Pacers will conduct their final practice Friday morning at Bankers Life Fieldhouse before leaving for Orlando and Summer League play.

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Rookie/Free Agent Camp Update

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Rasual Butler and Roger Mason Jr. both were chosen in the second round of the 2002 NBA draft, and have ricocheted around the league the way journeymen do. Butler has played for six franchises and Mason for seven, and while they have four former teams in common, they've never wound up on the same team at the same time.

Their ships-in-the-night journeys could continue next season, if Mason is able to follow Butler's example.

Mason was among the players who began Summer League practice with the Pacers on Tuesday, and will play in the games in Orlando that begin later this week. It's an unusual path for a 33-year-old veteran, but not an unprecedented one. Butler did it last year as a 34-year-old veteran trying to get back in the NBA and wound up a valuable member of a Pacers team that reached the Eastern Conference Finals.

Photo Gallery: Pacers' Rookie/Free Agent Camp Roster

Mason and his agent took note of that in their search for an opening back into the NBA.

“(The Pacers) having a track record of that made a difference for me for sure,” Mason said following Tuesday morning's workout on the Bankers Life Fieldhouse practice court. “But, really, I just want to come here and work hard and let the guys see I haven't lost the step. I'm a little bit younger (than Butler) and don't have as many miles.

“Summer League wasn't on my radar. This is a special situation, given that these guys are contenders. I wouldn't have gone to Summer League anywhere else. It wasn't something I was contemplating at all, to be honest with you. But given what Rasual did last year, that was a path that I liked.”

Mason spent two seasons overseas, so his NBA career isn't as dense as Butler's. Their stories, however, are similar even if their itineraries have not intersected. Mason, a 6-5 shooting guard who can slide to small forward, has averaged 6.3 points in 17.7 minutes per game in the NBA. Butler, a 6-7 small forward who can slide to shooting guard, has averaged 7.8 points in 22.2 minutes. Both are regarded as mature players who would be an asset to any locker room.

Butler, now a free agent like Mason, has an uncertain future. Mason could land a spot if the Pacers wind up in need of a shooting guard as last season's primary shooting guards, Lance Stephenson and Evan Turner, are free agents.

The idea of bringing Mason to the Pacers' Summer League team was broached when Mason's agent was speaking with Pacers representatives recently.

“With the success we had last year (with Butler), why not?” Pacers scouting director Ryan Carr said. “He's trying to prove himself and do it the hard way. Why not?

“You never know what's going to happen. You get a chance to get a veteran guy and a big-time person …”

Mason is the Vice-President of the National Basketball Players Association, and a member of the association's program that allow players to work toward front office positions. He spent time in Denver before this year's draft as an adviser and intern of sorts, and said he has turned down two front office opportunities already. He will attend the Summer League games in Las Vegas after the Orlando league finishes to evaluate talent, and admits to being a general manager “in my own mind for the last few years.”

It shouldn't have been a surprise, then, that after his back tightened up about three-fourths of the way through practice, he spent the rest of the session on the sideline in conversation with former Pacers president Donnie Walsh.  

“I'm just not ready yet,” he said. “I still have miles in me. I still want to play when I can. Hopefully those offers are still there when I finish.”

Mason said Walsh considered drafting him in 2002, when the Pacers took Fred Jones with the 14th pick. Mason was the second player chosen in the second round that year, officially the 30th pick because Minnesota had forfeited its first-round selection. During his three-year run as New York's president, Walsh signed Mason to the Knicks roster in 2010-11.

Mason, who entered the NBA draft after his junior season at Virginia, had his best season with San Antonio in 2008-09, when he averaged 11.8 points and hit 42 percent of his three-point shots. (You can watch him hitting a game-winning three-pointer against Phoenix on Christmas Day in 2008 in the video on the right.)

He played 25 games with Miami last season, but was traded to Sacramento and then released by the Kings in a cost-cutting move. He cleared waivers but league rules prohibited him from returning to the Heat and he wasn't picked up by another team, so he returned to Miami where he makes his year-round home and has been working out ever since.

And, no, he wouldn't mind playing for the Heat's biggest conference rival. 

“I was very close with that group in the locker room,” Mason said. “I've be lying if I said it wasn't a little different. But the reality is those guys traded me. To be on this team and compete against them would be fun.”

Mason is primary a three-point shooter, having hit 38 percent of his attempts over his career. He's not much of a scorer otherwise, having hit just 40 percent of all of his field goal attempts. He's also an 87 percent free throw shooter and has averaged less than one turnover per game.

In other words, he's a safe addition for any team that could use another scoring threat.

“There's not many guys who are knock-down shooters; I'm one of them,” Mason said. “For a team that's competing for championships, there's always a need for shooting. That's why I have interest here and hopefully they have interest in me as well.”

But, seriously? Summer league? You, Mr. 11-year-veteran-34-years-old-in-September Roger Mason?

“You're never too anything to come out here and compete,” he said. “I love the game of basketball. If these young guys here see me out here working out with them, that's a good thing.”

Note: The contents of this page have not been reviewed or endorsed by the Indiana Pacers. All opinions expressed by Mark Montieth are solely his own and do not reflect the opinions of the Indiana Pacers, their partners, or sponsors.

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Mason Hoping to Follow Butler's Path

INDIANAPOLIS – Three players from the Indiana Pacers’ 2013-14 regular season roster, Lavoy Allen, Donald Sloan and Solomon Hill, will participate in the team’s rookie/free agent camp that starts Tuesday, July 1 and runs through Friday, July 4, at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

The team will conduct two practices Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday with one practice Friday before it leaves for Orlando to participate in the Southwest Airlines Pro Summer League. The Pacers will begin play Saturday morning against the Brooklyn Nets and will play five games over seven days. The team will be coached by assistant Dan Burke.

2014 Rookie/Free Agent Camp

Notebook: Jones Making Fast Impression

Rookie/Free Agent Camp Update

Mason Hoping to Follow Butler's Path

Pacers To Conduct Rookie/Free Agent Camp