The Oklahoma City Thunder front office knew they were rolling the dice a bit with Perry Jones as their first round choice in the 2012 NBA Draft earlier this week. The former Baylor big man has always been lauded for his potential, but concerns about his knee have plagued him and dropped him all the way to No. 28. At that spot, OKC couldn’t help but pull the trigger that landed him with the Thunder.
When introducing him at the team’s recent press conference, Jones insisted his knee is fine and general manager Sam Presti didn’t seem concerned. Presti went into an explanation while Jones just stated a simple, "My knee’s fine, it didn’t affect me at Baylor."
"It’s a previous injury he had prior to coming to Baylor he’s played two years (since) and has been incredibly consistent with it and it’s just something we have to watch as we go forward," said Presti. "If there’s anything that comes up from it we’ll be proactive but going into the situation we’re thrilled and we’re looking forward to having him compete this summer."
Jones has a loaded roster to work with, so the environment should help him ease into the league and not feel the pressure to become an instant contributor. At the same time, Jones has so much natural talent that it seems unfair that such an elite team can land another potential impact player.
"Everybody knows I wasn’t supposed to slide as far as I did but it turns out I’m happy I did because this is a great organization," said Jones. "This is a perfect spot for me and I believe everything happens for a reason and these guys treat me like family."
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