Where Are They Now: Jamario Moon

Clippers’ Career: Jamario Moon came to the Clippers in one of the most notorious NBA trades in recent memory. Moon came from the Cavs in February of 2011 along with Mo Williams (the centerpiece of the deal) for Baron Davis and an unprotected 1^st round pick—the pick that became Kyrie Irving just four months later. This failure to protect the pick was roundly criticized at the time, and the trade is now a mine for jokes and laughter for NBA and Clipper fans. Moon himself only played 19 games for the Clips down the stretch as part of a weak small forward rotation that strongly featured Ryan Gomes and a rookie Al-Farouq Aminu. He didn’t play poorly, but wasn’t impressive enough to convince the Clippers to keep him, and they let him walk.

2011-2012: After several years in the NBA, and with a solid enough finish to the previous season, Jamario must have been disappointed with the lack of NBA offers. None came, and Moon sat out the entire season until March 2012, when he signed with the LA D-Fenders in the D-League, a team that would play a large role in his career for the next few years. Jamario dazzled, putting up 17.7 points and 7.8 rebounds per game, stats good enough to win him Player of the Month for the entire league. The Charlotte Hornets, impressed, signed him in mid-April, and he closed out the season for them as a rotation player. Unfortunately, he shot the ball terribly for Charlotte, and they waived him in early July. Those eight games would be Moon’s last stint in the NBA.

2012-2013: Jamario once again signed with the D-Fenders, but this time his impact was not nearly as positive. He struggled shooting the ball, and only played 15 games before leaving the team. His stats were underwhelming: seven points and seven rebounds per game on 34% shooting from the field and 26% from three. Once again, Moon’s poor outside shooting proved to be a severe obstacle to his playing career.

2013-2014: In November, Jamario was re-acquired by the D-Fenders, presumably as more of a veteran presence. However, he came out of the gates scorching hot (shooting 42.5% from three on a good volume of attempts), and parlayed his strong play into a better gig overseas. In January, Moon left the D-Fenders to sign with Olympiacos, the reigning back-to-back Euroleague champions. He played a mere six games for them, sadly, before being waived. It’s puzzling why they let go of him so quickly, as he shot the ball well and his peripheral stats were fine. Nevertheless, Jamario moved on, signing with Guaros de Lara in Venezuela. He finished the rest of the season (22 games) with them, scoring 11.7 points per game and adding 7 rebounds. When the season was over, however, Moon returned to the United States.

2014-2015: For the fourth year in a row, Jamario’s season started off with a turn for the D-Fenders. He struggled to start the season - though not as badly as two years previous - and was waived in late December. He then went back to Guaros, but stuck there for only three games before getting cut by them as well. Now in his mid-30s, Jamario’s career seemed to be approaching its end.

2015-2016: All hope was not lost for Moon, as he finally signed with another team in February of 2016. This time, the league was Puerto Rico’s Baloncesto Superior Nacional. He signed with the Indios de Mayaguez in February and played 14 games for them, shooting 43% from the field and 39% from three. Jamario averaged 27.5 minutes per game, scoring 10.4 points on average in those minutes. After those 14 games, Moon either left or was cut. He played well, but international teams have a limited number of foreign players they can keep on their roster, and Moon might not have been enough of a standout to make the cut. Regardless, he didn’t play again for the rest of the season… nor did he play anywhere else for the 2016-2017 season.

Future: Moon went undrafted in the BIG3 draft, but is still looking to keep his playing career going, according to his Instagram and Twitter pages. He was an inconsistent shooter throughout his career, and his fortunes on any given team in his post-NBA career seemed to largely swing on how well he shot the ball from outside. Like many aging small forwards, Moon moved up a spot to power forward in his later years, and that’s probably the position he would have to play now. Jamario was an incredible athlete in his NBA years (and was even more spectacular earlier), but that reliance on athleticism seems to have cost him in the latter part of his career. Jamario is not done, however. His team over at Aspire Sports Management just put up (two days ago) a video of his highlights from the 2016 season. Presumably, they hope a team somewhere will see it, and sign him. Hopefully Jamario is able to continue playing professional basketball somewhere, and keep his long career going. If not, it was a good run, and a fun one.