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NEW YORK CITY — It's becoming a yearly tradition for center Damian Jones to go experience a new part of nature.
In recent years, the 27-year-old from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, has trekked through Yosemite, Sequoia, Grand Canyon and Lassen national parks, and boated across Lake Tahoe.
Last summer, his adventuring drive brought him to Utah. Jones took a trip through Arches, Canyonlands, Bryce Canyon and Zion national parks; and in the process, he discovered a new treasured place.
"Arches is my favorite so far," Jones said.
He's probably already winning fans over in Utah with that type of endorsement. But he's hoping for an opportunity to do the same on the court, too
When Jones and Juan Toscano-Anderson found out they had been traded to Utah from the Los Angeles Lakers, there was a sense of freedom. They didn't know what exactly would be waiting with the Jazz, but they knew it would be different. And that was enough to be excited.
"Being in LA, it was tough," Jones said. "Coming into this situation, though, hopefully there's a new opportunity."
Those thoughts were echoed by Toscano-Anderson.
"I was happy about it — kinda relieved," he said. "My situation there wasn't the best. I want to play basketball. I love this game. That's what I wake up every day to do. I play this game because I actually like playing. I wasn't seeing the time there, which is perfectly fine. I just wasn't in the rotation, so I'm looking forward to a new opportunity."
Jones played in 56 games last season with the Kings where he averaged 8.1 points in 18 minutes. He was signed by the Lakers in the offseason, but after appearing in nine of the team's first 13 games, he was buried deep on the bench.
Toscano-Anderson, meanwhile, had been a regular in the Golden State Warriors rotation over the previous two seasons before he signed with Los Angeles. The 6-foot-6 wing was in and out of the Lakers lineup — an ankle injury didn't help, either — and never found a consistent role.
"It's hard, but that's life; life is never easy," he said. "As humans, we make the mistake of thinking that life is always gonna be easier. In actuality, it's not. Life is about overcoming challenges. I had a lot of growth. You know, even though I've (only been) reflecting on it for two and three days, but just between these two and three days, I've noticed a lot of growth that I've had in that particular situation. So it's a part of life — take it in stride and keep going."
On Saturday night, as his new teammates were going through pregame warmups, Toscano-Anderson sat courtside at Madison Square Garden with Jazz assistant Lamar Skeeter going over film.
That's been the norm for the new Jazz wing since Wednesday night. When he found out about the trade, he immediately reached out to the team to get his hands on game film to begin studying. And he saw a lot of things that excited him.
"I feel like the offense here, there's a lot of continuity — much more fluid; it's very similar to Golden State's offense, which I thrived in," he said.
He thinks he can thrive in Utah, too. The two new Jazz players didn't see the court on Saturday during their first game with the team, so what's the plan for the duo?
"Right now, it's about trying to up their comfort level with what we are doing on both ends of the floor, and help them get acclimated to their new situation," Jazz coach Will Hardy said.
Toscano-Anderson is hopeful that the process can happen pretty quickly.
"I don't think it'll take me very long. I consider myself a high-IQ guy. I know how to play the game. I know how to read the game," he said. "I'm just gonna try to integrate myself in. Just keep it simple and then expand from there."
As for living in Salt Lake City, he's looking forward to that, too. He's never lived in a high-elevation, mountainous area and thinks it will be interesting to see what life is like there.
"All the mountains and stuff is something that we'll try to discover," he said. "I'm from NorCal and lived in LA — a little bit more sun, but I'm not mad at it. Different environment. Life is like that. You find different things, find different situations to grow as a human being, so I'm really excited to be in Salt Lake."
And if he wants something else to discover, Jones has a pretty good recommendation a few hours down the road.
