It doesn’t take a basketball savant to appreciate Damian Jones’ upside. At a chiseled 7-foot, 245 pounds, he boasts a 7-foot-3¾-inch wingspan and a 36-inch vertical leap.
The question with Jones long has been whether his intensity, focus and general feel for the game would catch up to his physical tools. For someone so agile, he often has looked awkward, like he is not yet comfortable in his frame.
The Warriors saw enough from Jones, 23, in the G League the past two seasons to make room for him in the rotation. Now, with little more than a week until Golden State’s season opener against Oklahoma City, he is facing the most pivotal month of his nascent career.
By Oct. 31, the front office must decide whether to pick up Jones’ $2.3 million option for next season or let him become an unrestricted free agent in July. It could be a tricky decision for a team already deep into the luxury tax. Though Jones’ potential is unquestioned, he needs to show he is ready to contribute on a nightly basis.
Last year, Kevon Looney became a valued rotation player after the front office didn’t pick up his fourth-year option, only for Golden State to bring him back in July on a one-year, minimum deal, thanks to a tepid market for free-agent big men.
To better evaluate Jones’ progress, head coach Steve Kerr has started Jones at center in each of the Warriors’ first two preseason games. In limited minutes, he has been a case study in extremes, oscillating between ineptitude and brilliance.
Perhaps no sequence better illustrated Jones’ Jekyll and Hyde nature than a 126-second span in the third quarter of Friday night’s win over the Kings in Seattle. Little more than two minutes after missing a wide-open layup, he set a screen for Kevin Durant along the three-point arc, rolled hard to the rim, jumped, fully extended his right arm back to snag a poor lob from Durant and threw it down for a dunk.
Teammates on Golden State’s bench laughed as they traded puzzled glances. Jones is raw enough to test Kerr’s patience, but gifted enough to warrant more opportunity as DeMarcus Cousins rehabs a torn left Achilles tendon.
“Had to make up for that missed layup,” a chuckling Jones said of his highlight-worthy slam.
Added Kerr: “That was incredible. What made it so stunning was that it looked like the pass was going over his head, and Damian just reached up and snagged it out of nowhere. That was probably the play of the night.”
The Warriors see Jones as the ideal replacement for JaVale McGee, who signed with the Lakers in July. Jones, like McGee, is adept at running the floor, blocking shots and hammering home alley-oops.
The problem is that Jones is also prone to the sort of absentminded follies that won McGee a lifetime achievement award on TNT’s “Shaqtin’ a Fool.” Too often, Jones seems ill-prepared for the NBA stage, bobbling a pass out of bounds or biting on a simple pump fake.
But though McGee is a journeyman with 10 years of NBA experience, Jones is just starting to get accustomed to a regular role in this league.
Over the past two years, he totaled 174 minutes with Golden State, spending the bulk of his time with the team’s G League affiliate in Santa Cruz. Until now, Jones’ only meaningful NBA minutes came when the Warriors were out of reach of the Western Conference’s No. 1 seed late last season.
Now fully recovered from a Grade 1 MCL sprain he sustained in the Las Vegas Summer League, Jones is putting the pressure on the front office to pick up his option for next season.
“We’re all impressed by DJ and his work ethic, and how much better he’s gotten over the last couple years,” Durant said. “I know he’s excited about that opportunity, and we are, too.”
Connor Letourneau is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: [email protected]. Twitter: @Con_Chron
Monday’s exhibition
Who: Phoenix at Warriors
When: 7:30 p.m.
TV/Radio: NBCSBA/95.7
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