Lazeric Deleon Jones (born August 11, 1990)[1] is an American former professional basketball player who works as a player development coach for the Windy City Bulls of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for the UCLA Bruins, and was named a second-team all-conference player in the Pac-12 in 2012. Jones has also played professionally with the NBA G League as well as overseas in Israel, Greece, Hungary.

Lazeric Jones
Jones with Sakarya BB in 2018
Windy City Bulls
PositionPlayer development coach
LeagueNBA G League
Personal information
Born (1990-08-11) August 11, 1990 (age 34)
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Listed weight185 lb (84 kg)
Career information
High schoolSimeon Career Academy (Chicago, Illinois)
College
NBA draft2012: undrafted
Playing career2012–2023
PositionPoint guard
Career history
2012–2013Maccabi Rishon LeZion
2013–2014KAOD
2014–2015Szolnoki Olaj
2015–2016Iowa Energy
2016Pınar Karşıyaka
2016–2018Sakarya BB
2018–2019Monaco
2019–2020Galatasaray Doğa Sigorta
2021Medi Bayreuth
2021Nizhny Novgorod
2022ESSM Le Portel
2022–2023Windy City Bulls
Career highlights and awards
Stats at Basketball Reference Edit this at Wikidata

Early life

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Jones was born in Chicago, Illinois.[1] He attended high school in Chicago at Simeon Career Academy, where he played behind future NBA Most Valuable Player Derrick Rose.[1][2]

College career

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Jones went to junior college at John A. Logan College, and he led their basketball team to a Great Rivers Athletic Conference championship during his sophomore year in 2010.[3] He transferred to the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 2010,[4] when he became just the third junior college transfer in 30 years to play for the Bruins basketball program.[2] He averaged 9.1 points and 3.7 assists in 2010–11; however, his performance dropped after a wrist injury in February.[5] Still, he did not miss any games, and he was the only Bruin to start all 34 games.[6]

During the offseason, he underwent a 10-week rehab program and returned to 100 percent by preseason practice the following season.[5] In 2011–12, he was named team captain,[7] and earned second-team All-Pac-12 honors after averaging a team-leading 13.5 points along with 4.1 assists and 3.5 rebounds per game.[3][8]

Professional career

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After going undrafted in the 2012 NBA draft, Jones joined the Sacramento Kings for the 2012 NBA Summer League.[3][9] He later signed with Maccabi Rishon LeZion of Israel for the 2012–13 season. In 26 games for Maccabi, he averaged 10.4 points, 2.4 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.3 steals per game.[10]

In September 2013, Jones signed with KAOD of Greece for the 2013–14 season.[10] In 28 games for KAOD, he averaged 13.6 points, 2.9 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.3 steals per game.

In July 2014, Jones joined the Chicago Bulls for the 2014 NBA Summer League.[3] On September 10, 2014, he signed with Szolnoki Olaj of Hungary for the 2014–15 season.[11] In 31 Adriatic/Eurocup games for Szolnoki, he averaged 13.3 points, 2.6 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game.[12]

In July 2015, Jones joined the New Orleans Pelicans for the 2015 NBA Summer League. He signed with the Memphis Grizzlies on September 28,[13] but was waived by the team on October 24 after appearing in six preseason games.[14] On October 31, he was acquired by the Iowa Energy (known now as the Iowa Wolves) of the NBA D-League (now NBA G League) as an affiliate player of the Grizzlies.[15] On January 22, 2016, Jones left Iowa after receiving a buyout.[16] Three days later, he signed with Turkish team Pınar Karşıyaka for the rest of the season.[17]

On November 23, 2016, Jones signed with the Turkish club Sakarya.[18] He averaged 12 points and 3.7 assists per game during the 2017–18 season. On September 18, 2018, Jones signed with AS Monaco Basket of the French league.[19]

On September 12, 2019, he has signed with Galatasaray Doğa Sigorta of the Basketbol Süper Ligi.[20]

On January 11, 2021, he has signed with Medi Bayreuth of the Basketball Bundesliga.[21] Jones averaged 6.6 points, 2.5 assists, and 1.2 rebounds per game. On September 23, 2021, he signed with Nizhny Novgorod of the VTB United League.[22] Jones averaged 8.3 points, 5.0 assists and 2.0 rebounds per game. On January 1, 2022, he signed with ESSM Le Portel of the LNB Pro A.[23]

Windy City Bulls (2022–2023)

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On December 14, 2022, Jones signed a contract to join the Windy City Bulls.[24]

Coaching career

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On October 22, 2024, Jones was hired by the Windy City Bulls to be a player development coach.[25]

Career statistics

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College statistics
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2010–11 UCLA 34 33 28.4 .386 .352 .810 2.1 3.6 1.0 .4 9.1
2011–12 UCLA 32 32 33.4 .437 .393 .739 3.5 4.1 1.8 .2 13.6
Career 66 65 30.8 .415 .374 .769 2.8 3.9 1.4 .3 11.3

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Lazeric Jones Biography". UCLABruins.com. Retrieved July 24, 2014.
  2. ^ a b Yoon, Peter (March 6, 2012). "Leadership of Lazeric Jones helps UCLA navigate difficult season". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on August 8, 2014.
  3. ^ a b c d "Logan alum Jones joins Bulls summer team". The Southern Illinoisan. July 12, 2014. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014.
  4. ^ Bolch, Ben (October 19, 2010). "Lazeric Jones, Jerime Anderson in spirited battle to be UCLA's starting point guard". The Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on August 12, 2014.
  5. ^ a b "Lazeric Jones healthy, focused on bringing 'title' to UCLA". SportingNews.com. October 11, 2011. Archived from the original on May 28, 2015.
  6. ^ Leung, Diamond (October 10, 2011). "A healthy Lazeric Jones should help UCLA". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on August 8, 2014.
  7. ^ Maya, Adam (October 28, 2011). "PG Jones led himself to UCLA, now leading UCLA". Orange County Register. Archived from the original on May 28, 2015.
  8. ^ Bolch, Ben (July 11, 2012). "UCLA's Lazeric Jones hoping to hear name called in NBA draft". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on August 12, 2014.
  9. ^ "Lazeric Jones". NBA.com. Archived from the original on July 12, 2013.
  10. ^ a b "Lazeric Jones (ex Maccabi Rishon) agreed terms with KAO Dramas". Eurobasket.com. September 8, 2013. Retrieved September 8, 2013.
  11. ^ "Lazeric Jones arrived in Szolnok". Abaliga.com. September 10, 2014. Archived from the original on September 11, 2014.
  12. ^ "Lazeric D. JONES | Season 2014/2015". FIBA.com. Archived from the original on September 28, 2015. Retrieved September 28, 2015.
  13. ^ "Grizzlies announce 2015 training camp roster". NBA.com. September 28, 2015. Retrieved September 28, 2015.
  14. ^ "Memphis Grizzlies waive four players". NBA.com. October 24, 2015. Retrieved October 24, 2015.
  15. ^ "Iowa Energy Announce Returning, Affiliate, Tryout Players and Draft Rights Players for 2015 Training". OurSportsCentral.com. October 31, 2015. Retrieved October 31, 2015.
  16. ^ "NBA D-League Transactions". NBA.com. Archived from the original on January 16, 2016.
  17. ^ "LAZERIC JONES PINAR KARŞIYAKA'DA!". kskbasketbol.net (in Turkish). January 25, 2016. Retrieved January 25, 2016.
  18. ^ "Lazeric Jones inks with Sakarya". Sportando.com. November 23, 2016. Retrieved November 24, 2016.
  19. ^ "Lazeric Jones signs with AS Monaco". Sportando. Retrieved September 19, 2018.
  20. ^ "Lazeric Jones Galatasaray Doğa Sigorta'da". Galatasaray.org (in Turkish). September 12, 2019. Retrieved September 12, 2019.
  21. ^ "Lazeric Jones signs with Medi Bayreuth". Sportando. January 11, 2021. Retrieved January 12, 2021.
  22. ^ "N.Novgorod adds Jones to their roster, ex Bayreuth". Eurobasket. September 23, 2021. Retrieved September 23, 2021.
  23. ^ "Le Portel lands Lazeric Jones, ex N.Novgorod". Eurobasket. January 1, 2022. Retrieved January 2, 2022.
  24. ^ "2022–23 NBA G League Transactions". gleague.nba.com. December 14, 2022. Retrieved December 14, 2022.
  25. ^ "Windy City Bulls Announce 2024-25 Coaching and Basketball Operations Staff". NBA.com. October 22, 2024. Retrieved October 22, 2024.
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