Improve Free Throw Shooting
When you can jump as high and dunk the way that Jones Jr. does, you will ultimately be fouled, a lot. Whether it be the typical run of the mill type of fouls that occur when going into the paint in the NBA or the kind that happens because the defender doesn’t want to deal with the embarrassment of being featured on the Top 10 highlights of the night, he will be fouled.
Jones Jr. shot 60 percent from the charity stripe last season, a number that he needs to start improving upon immediately. If you can’t hit free throws as a player, you can’t be on the floor to close games or in crucial moments.
With his athletic abilities and scrappiness, Jones Jr. should see a lot of the floor and on a ton of occasions because he can help in multiple imaginable scenarios. Also when thinking about the previous two goals we noted in improving his ballhandling and jump shooting, improving in those areas will only serve to increase the amount of time he spends at the charity stripe.
The last thing you would want to see as a Miami Heat fan, a coach, or a teammate is for him to do the hard part of getting to the line and then to combust on the easy part, which is sinking the free throw. Free throws are free points with no opposition, they should be taken advantage of.
While there are probably a few other things he could stand to improve upon, these would be the most imperative for him at this exact and current moment. These improvements would not only make him better in the long run, but they are improvements that he can put into effect to become a much better player right now. That’s why these are the three goals he should look to accomplish heading into this upcoming season.