This season has been nothing short of a disaster for the New Orleans Pelicans.

Zion Williamson, CJ McCollum, Dejounte Murray, Herb Jones, Trey Murphy, and Jose Alvarado have already missed at least 13 games each this season with a variety of injuries. With most of their rotation pieces out of action for the better part of the past month, the Pelicans have slid down the standings with 15 losses in their 16 games leading up to their contest against the Phoenix Suns. 

Fortunately for New Orleans, Jones made his long-awaited return from an 18-game absence caused by a right shoulder injury versus Phoenix and made an immediate impact. 

While the 26-year-old forward is not a prolific scorer or deadeye shooter like his other teammates, his influence on the team’s success on both ends of the floor is invaluable. The 6’8 forward can guard literally any position on defense and has been improving as a shooter and passer over the course of his four-year career. 

Jones put this full array of skills on display against the Suns, helping the Pelicans take a 126-124 win that snapped a nine-game losing streak. He finished with a well-rounded statline–12 points, two three-pointers, seven rebounds, five assists, four steals, and one block–but even this understates his impact on the match.

New Orleans’ head coach Willie Green ran with a small line-up featuring Jones at center down the stretch which helped free up the lane for McCollum and Murray to close out the game. Jones also hit a crucial three-pointer from the left corner with 1:49 left in the final period that extended the Pelicans’ lead to four, 121-117. 

On defense, Jones and his 7’0 wingspan disrupted Phoenix’s offense, highlighted by a game-winning block on Devin Booker’s three-point attempt at the buzzer that could have won the game.

These types of plays have defined Jones’ career in the NBA and with him now back in action, New Orleans should slowly begin to climb back up the standings. They are currently in 14th in the West with a 5-18 record, but with three fourths of the regular season still left on the calendar, there is still much room for them to make a push for the play-in tournament or even the lower postseason seeds.

A team with several offensive options such as the Pelicans always needs a glue guy such as Jones to make things work and their losing spell while he was out further highlights his importance to this team. If New Orleans cannot salvage their season, it should only be a matter of time before contenders try to pry away Jones to bolster their defense.