Forward Herb Jones has signed “a multi-year contract extension” with the New Orleans Pelicans, the NBA team announced on Monday night.

The announcement was a formality. Reports last week indicated the former Alabama standout and the Pelicans had reached an agreement on a three-year, $68 million contract extension.

New Orleans signed Jones as soon as he became eligible for an extension as he reached the halfway point of his current four-year, $53.828 million contract.

Why would the Pelicans seek to extend Jones when he remains until team control for two more seasons and is coming off a campaign in which he played only 20 games because of a shoulder injury?

After New Orleans announced the signing, the Pelicans released a statement from Joe Dumars, the head of basketball operations for the team, that could serve as an explanation.

“Herb Jones exemplifies all the great qualities our team values with his toughness, competitiveness and commitment to getting better every day,” Dumars said. “We could not be more excited to sign Herb to this contract extension and keep him in New Orleans for many years to come.”

Beyond the praise, though, are some numbers that might explain the Pelicans’ eagerness to extend Jones even though his career scoring average is 10.1 points per game.

During his four NBA seasons, Jones has recorded 375 steals and 173 blocked shots. Only four other players have reached those totals since the start of the 2021-22 campaign, including three of the past four NBA Most Valuable Player Award winners. Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic won that honor for the 2021-22 and 2023-24 seasons, and Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander won last season.

The other two players are Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards, an All-Star Game selection in each of the past three seasons, and New York Knicks forward OG Anunoby.

Jones played almost 1,300 fewer minutes than any of the other four players who accomplished the feat.

Over the past 53 seasons, Jones is among 47 players who have at least 375 steals and 173 blocked shots in their first four seasons.

The list includes 14 players who are enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame — Charles Barkley, Larry Bird, Clyde Drexler, Kevin Garnett, Grant Hill, Dennis Johnson, Michael Jordan, Karl Malone, Hakeem Olajuwon, Paul Pierce, Scottie Pippen, David Robinson, Dwyane Wade and Dominique Wilkins.

Included with Jones among the players who have accomplished that feat but aren’t in the Hall of Fame is Los Angeles Lakers forward and 21-time All-Star selection LeBron James.

Of the 47 players, Jones appeared in the fewest regular-season games over his first four seasons with 240.

The contract extension appears to make sense for the Pelicans, too. Of the players who already are under contract for the 2027-28 season, when Jones’ extension begins, 57 have deals with greater average annual value than Jones’ three-season extension, with its $22,666,667 per year average. Even using the 2025-26 salary cap, that number would be a little less than 15 percent of the spending allotment.

Jones won the Alabama Sports Writers Association’s Class 4A Player of the Year Award for the 2016-17 season when he led Hale County to the AHSAA championship.

After Hale County, Jones played four seasons at Alabama. He concluded his college career with the Crimson Tide as the SEC Player of the Year and the SEC Defensive Player of the Year for the 2020-21 season.

Jones finished sixth in the voting for the NBA Rookie of the Year Award for the 2021-22 season and fifth in the voting for the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award for the 2023-24 season, when he made the NBA’s All-Defensive team.

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at @AMarkG1.