Sports/Olympics / Basketball

Suns sign forward Jumaine Jones
(AP)
Updated: 2006-09-01 08:53

PHOENIX - Jumaine Jones signed a one-year contract Thursday with the Phoenix Suns, who added an outside shooting threat to their roster.

The 6-foot-8 forward, a seven-year veteran, will be going to his sixth NBA team. He averaged a career-best 10.5 points for Charlotte last season, including a career-high 31 against the

Los Angeles Lakers on Feb. 3. He played in 76 games, 42 as a starter.

He is the third free-agent signing for the Suns in the offseason, joining point guard Marcus Banks and guard-forward Eric Piatkowski.

Jones is a career 35 percent shooter from 3-point range, making a career-high 115 last season. He has a career average of 7.3 points and 4.3 rebounds.

He has played with Philadelphia, Cleveland, Boston, the Lakers and Charlotte since being drafted out of Georgia. He was drafted by Atlanta with the 27th overall pick in 1999, then had his draft rights traded to Philadelphia.