The Index · Live

Herbert Jones New Orleans Pelicans · #2

Forward · 6'7", 206 lb · Greensboro, Alabama · Age 28 · 5th season

Herbert 'Herb' Jones is one of the NBA's premier perimeter defenders — a left-handed 6-foot-7 3-and-D wing for the New Orleans Pelicans. Drafted 35th in 2021 out of Alabama, where he swept SEC Player and Defensive Player of the Year, he made the 2024 All-Defensive First Team and is a versatile, disruptive defender and complementary shooter.

MVP race · #102Forward rank · #65Balladex Impact · 61
⚖ Quick compare
H
Herbert Jones
◆ Rated
New Orleans Pelicans · #2 · Forward
Herbert Jones
Season avg8.9 pts · 3.4 reb · 2.8 ast · .383 fg
Career avg9.9 pts · 3.7 reb · 2.5 ast · .460 fg
Live win probabilityMavericks 65%
Balladex model · projected 122–118 · 100.3 pace
Tonight's projectionmodel
9.4pts
2.7reb
2.7ast
35%win
Tonight's matchup · who he'll mainly guardhead-to-head
Herbert Jones
New Orleans Pelicans · Forward
C-
vs
76
Cooper Flagg
Dallas Mavericks · Solid defender
Category breakout
Head-to-head history
Home/away splits from recent games; live grades from the DNA model.
LADDER#102 in the Balladex MVP raceIMPACTBalladex Impact 61 — Solid starter tierINDEXHerbert Jones · New Orleans PelicansLADDER#102 in the Balladex MVP raceIMPACTBalladex Impact 61 — Solid starter tierINDEXHerbert Jones · New Orleans Pelicans
Scouting report

Herbert Jones — the report card

Read his whole game at a glance, then dive into any skill. Grades from the DNA model + real production.

C
Elite Perimeter Defender · 3-and-D · Impact 61
Herbert 'Herb' Jones is one of the NBA's premier perimeter defenders — a left-handed 6-foot-7 3-and-D wing for the New Orleans Pelicans. Drafted 35th
C-
Offense
C
Defense
C-
Feel / IQ
D
Playmaking
Below average creator
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C-
Scoring
Average scorer
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C
Rebounding
Average on the glass
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C-
3PT / spacing
Average spacing
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B+
Perimeter D
Excellent on the perimeter
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D
Paint / rim D
Below average at the rim
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C
Clutch
Average late
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C+
Athleticism
Strong tools
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C-
Basketball IQ
Reads the game
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B-
Durability
Availability
tap for the data ↓
Act II

Where Herbert Jones stands

Live ladders from the Balladex models, and what he's chasing. Rankings recompute nightly from real production, accolades, and search demand.

The laddersmodel · recomputes nightly
1
Nikola Jokić DEN▬
31%
2
Luka Doncic LAL▬
19%
3
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander OKC▬
8%
4
Giannis Antetokounmpo MIA▬
5%
5
Victor Wembanyama SAS▬
3%
6
Anthony Edwards MIN▬
3%
7
Jamal Murray DEN▬
2%
8
Tyrese Maxey PHI▬
2%
✦ Balladex Consensus: #166 of 384 — a blend of the Impact index, current production, career résumé and live search demand. Recomputes as the data does.
Futures & chases
<1%MVP odds
61Impact index
158Star score
Career scoring average9.9 ppg
Seasons in the index5
Accolades on file2
1× All-Defensive First Team (2024) · 1× All-Rookie Second Team (2022)
Stat explorer

Herbert Jones — every number, three levels deep

Headline → metric → the raw history behind it. Real career data; tracking-only metrics labeled.

C-
Scoring
8.9 PPG
drill in ↓
D
Playmaking
2.8 APG
drill in ↓
C
Rebounding
3.4 RPG
drill in ↓
C-
Shooting
.309 3P%
drill in ↓
The engine

How the model sees Herbert Jones

Projection = per-minute rate × projected minutes. Rates are recency- and health-weighted, aged along a per-stat curve, and adjusted for live usage/role. No black box — every number shows its work.

Projected 2026-27  66% confidence
8.9
pts
6.7–11.1
3.3
reb
2.3–4.3
3.0
ast
2.1–3.9
28.4
min
proj
47
gp
health
.433
fg%
~base
.343
3p%
~base
Bands widen as confidence drops. Derived live from the real 5-season history below.
What moves the points line vs last season
Last season 8.9 → projected 8.9 PPG
Minutes / role
+0.0
Development (his trend)
-0.2
Age curve
+0.0
Live context
+0.2
Net vs last season+0.0 PPG
Everything it reads
📊
5 seasons of per-minute rates
every box line, minutes-normalized
real
⚖
Recency × games-played weight
recent, healthy seasons anchor the baseline
auto
📈
Weighted least-squares trend
his own trajectory, read season over season
+dev
🕰
Per-stat aging curves
age 28 — applied per stat
curve
🔌
Live role context
usage & role shifts fold in when the feed is present
+ctx
🏥
Durability signal
GP last 3: 76 / 20 / 56 → games & confidence
health
The real history it trains onsource: Basketball-Reference · verified

Herbert Jones career stats, season by season

Career stats by season
SeasonGPMINPTSREBASTFG%3P%
2021-227829.99.53.82.1.476.337
2022-236629.69.84.12.5.469.335
2023-247630.511.03.62.6.498.418
2024-252032.410.33.93.3.436.306
2025-265628.48.93.42.8.383.309
Career29629.99.93.72.5
Source: Basketball-Reference. Backtested against completed player-seasons in the index. The same engine powers Tonight's projection, EraLab, and the role simulator — one model, asked different questions. Illustrative.
Act III

The Lab

Every number, live and interactive. Real career data; models labeled.

Gold = MVP / Championship season · hover any bar. Real per-game data; per-36 & totals derived.
EraLab · the stat time machinenovel
Re-express a season in today's pace-and-space.
—raw PPG
→
—in 2026 pace
why
Scoring map · clickable zonesShotChart
Team-tinted. Modeled where tracking data is absent.
Role simulatorpowered by GM engine
Change the roster around him — his projection updates live.
Projected line shifts to — usage , assists rise as primary initiator. Title odds . Illustrative.
Context

Are the New Orleans Pelicans built to win?

Team projection rolled up from the roster + last-season baselines — and what it means for his role.

30–52proj record
#11conf seed
-4.1net rtg
113.4off rtg
117.5def rtg
2%playoff odds
Roster delta · what changed
Aggressive hedge & help — Hedges hard on ball screens and rotates aggressive help from the weak side. Core trending improving. Defensive anchors: Herbert Jones, Derik Queen.
How his role moves
Projected 30–52, 11th in the West. Real team projection from the roster + last-season baselines. His usage, minutes and creation load move with roster health.
Balladex Impact
61 of 99
Solid starter tier.
Rarity
◆ Rated
Collectible tier.
Résumé
2 accolades
1× All-Defensive First Team (2024) · 1× All-Rookie Second Team (2022)
Act IV

The Ballad of Herbert Jones

Birth to now — the making of a legend, narrated and scored.

Oct 6, 1998

The beginning

An elite 3-and-D wing and perimeter stopper — versatile defense and shooting for the Pelicans.

New Orleans Pelicans

Turning pro

Drafted 35th overall, 2021 as a Forward.

true

An elite 3-and-D wing and perimeter stopper — versatile defense and shooting for the Pelicans.

Chapter

A four-year Alabama star, Jones swept SEC Player and Defensive Player of the Year before being drafted 35th in 2021.

Chapter

He made the All-Rookie Second Team as a versatile 3-and-D wing.

▶
▶
Jones's story
The documentary, narrated

Off the court

Measurables ESPN
Active
Height
6' 7"
Weight
206 lbs
College
Alabama
Experience
6th Season
Draft
35th overall, 2021
Born
Greensboro, Alabama
Age
28
Jersey
#2
Beyond the game

Jones's story is one of quiet resilience — born with hemolytic anemia, raised in small-town Alabama, and a four-year college player who became one of the rare athletes to win a major conference's Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year in the same season. His even-keeled, defense-first identity defines him.

His on-court identity is elite, versatile perimeter defense — a long, left-handed wing who guards multiple positions, generates steals and deflections, and disrupts the opponent's best scorer, paired with complementary catch-and-shoot shooting. His scoring is modest, but his defensive impact makes him a genuine two-way difference-maker and the Pelicans' perimeter anchor.

The person

An elite, versatile perimeter defender — disruptive defense and complementary shooting.

Elite defender2024 All-Defensive First Team; guards the opponent's best scorer.
VersatileA long, left-handed wing who guards multiple positions.
ResilientBecame a star despite a lifelong blood condition.
Verified profiles & sources
FAQ

Herbert Jones — frequently asked

The questions people ask most about Herbert Jones, answered.

What is Herbert Jones known for?
Elite perimeter defense — a long, left-handed 6-foot-7 wing who guards the opponent's best scorer, made the 2024 All-Defensive First Team, and adds complementary shooting.
What did Herbert Jones achieve in college?
At Alabama he won both SEC Player of the Year and SEC Defensive Player of the Year in 2021, a rare double.
What is notable about Herbert Jones's background?
He was born with hemolytic anemia, a blood condition, yet became a four-year college star and elite NBA defender.
Herbert Jones career stats & accolades are real, and team projections and recent-game home/away splits are computed from real production. DNA ratings, grades, tonight's projection, ladders, live win probability and simulator outputs are Balladex model output. Not affiliated with the NBA.
✦ Companion
Ask about Herbert Jones

Availability & durability

games played vs season length
Career availability
72%
5 seasons
Last 3 seasons
62%
94 games missed
Games missed
114
career, schedule-adj.
Durability
Injury-prone
declining
Availability by season
78
21-22
66
22-23
76
23-24
20
24-25
56
25-26

Injury-prone. Availability trend is declining — 62% of games over the last three seasons, low of 24% in 2024-25.

Availability = games played ÷ season length (schedule-adjusted for lockout and COVID seasons). A durability signal from real game data, not a medical assessment.

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Herbert Jones head-to-head

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