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In the past few months, D-League guard Cameron Jones has come a long way from simply being known as the cousin of Toronto Raptors' guard Landry Fields.
In addition to being named the NBADL's "Most Improved Player" for the 2012-13 season, not only did Jones play a key role for the Santa Cruz Warriors during the D-League Finals this past year, he also impressed as he helped lead the Golden State Warriors to an NBA Summer League title in Las Vegas this summer.
Jones has made strides since first coming up as a sharpshooting rookie with Fort Wayne Mad Ants. Spending his sophomore campaign in Santa Cruz, the guard also proved he could be a steady defender and put the ball on the floor in order to take it to the hole if necessary. He's certainly more offensively versatile than he first appears.
In any event, the progress Jones continues to make appears to be paying off. Clearly on Golden State's radar, Jones will attend training camp with his D-League team's NBA affiliate, RidiculousUpside.com has learned.
This shouldn't come as much of a surprise, however. Jones has been in high favor with Warriors' brass for quite a while. Golden State Assistant General Manager Kirk Lacob even went as far as telling us at RidiculousUpside.com that he considered the guard to be this past season's "best kept secret" in the D-League. See below.
"I think Cam is the best kept secret in the D-League this season. He really hasn't gotten his name out there all too much, but he was a first-round draft pick in the NBADL last season.
He had a good rookie year, and I had a chance to watch him in college too. We had an opportunity to trade for him in the offseason. We made a good deal. He may have struggled a bit early on, but he's actually been in our starting lineup now for about 14 or 15 games. He's been able to improve each and every week. He brings toughness and a high basketball I.Q. He's a total winner. Cam's shown a lot of leadership as he's come into his role with us."
Of course, Jones won't be the only training camp invitee worthy of a look in Golden State this fall. In addition to Stephen Curry's brother, Duke star Seth Curry, we also believe Scott Machado will return to town for camp, be it via a partially guaranteed deal or simply a camp invite. The Iona College was previously waived by the Warriors back in July, but expects to be back this fall.