Jeremy Evans is best known for his crazy athleticism which helped him win the 2012 NBA Slam Dunk contest. Despite that athleticism Evans never got a real shot at consistent minutes with the Utah Jazz the past five years. This offseason the Dallas Mavericks signed Evans to a two-year $2.3 million contract and they don't expect him to be riding the bench. Head coach Rick Carlisle expects to use him in a variety of different ways this season, according to Cody Taylor of Basketball Insiders.
Evans was Utah's second round pick (55th overall) back in the 2010 NBA Draft out of Western Kentucky. The 6 foot-9 forward didn't spend much time in the D-League but instead spent a lot of time on the Jazz bench. In his five seasons there Evans played in just 44 games per season and averaged 10.8 minutes per game. In 2013-14 Evans proved he was a capable player as he was finally given consistent minutes off the bench and he was able to average 6.1 points and 4.7 rebounds in 18.3 minutes per game before being bolted to the bench again last season.
When Evans did get the opportunity to play with the Jazz he always excelled on the defensive end and that is where the Mavericks will likely let him thrive. Carlisle has said he could play Evans defensively at either forward position or even the center position. Evans is undersized for center but he makes up for it with his leaping ability and he has averaged 2.5 blocks per 36 minutes in his career.
"He's a hard worker and all that, but he also has the skill set. He has the athletic ability. He's shooting the ball now at the three-point range. I'm confident he can guard all of those positions and he's a guy that we're going to need to play multiple spots," said Carlisle.
Evans, who will turn 28 before the season starts, has made 57 percent of his field goal attempts in his career but his offense has been nothing to write home about. The majority of Evans' shots have come from with 10 feet of the basket (70 percent) but Carlisle thinks he will be able to knock down threes consistently this season. For his career Evans has attempted ten threes and only made two but both of those makes came last season on just five attempts.
Evans likely won't be a star player for the Mavericks this season but he has a real shot to be a very useful role player. With Wesley Matthews expected to miss some regular season time Evans could be the teams go-to defensive stopper and even when he comes back they will likely look to him to provide a spark off the bench game in and game out.
Just for fun watch Evans' Slam Dunk contest victory back in 2012.
