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The Orlando Magic will not bring DeQuan Jones back for the 2013/14 season.
Jones, an unrestricted free agent, said goodbye to Orlando in a series of tweets posted Friday evening. Orlando could have made the 23-year-old swingman a restricted free agent by extending him a qualifying offer by June 30th, but declined to do so.
Jones' tweets thanked the Magic for "bringing me to ORL" wished "my teammates and coaches the best of luck."
Jones went undrafted out of Miami in 2012, but parlayed a strong Orlando Pro Summer League showing into an invitation to training camp, where he beat the veteran Quentin Richardson for the Magic's final roster spot. Jones went on to make 63 appearances, including 17 starts, as a rookie. He averaged 3.7 points and 1.7 rebounds per game.
The Magic invited Jones back for another Orlando Pro Summer League go-round in 2013, and he played in all five games, averaging 4.2 points per game in 12 minutes. However, the fact that fellow Summer League invitees Rodney McGruder and Matt Gatens, who play Jones' position, earned more playing time than Jones strongly hinted at his future with the team.
Jones addressed the media following Friday's loss to the Boston Celtics, and said then that he didn't know if the Magic had made a decision on him. "Today was big," Jones said. "I just wanted to go out and have fun and end on the right note."
Jones said that he did not have any opportunities to play in Las Vegas in the NBA Summer League, which began Friday, because he preferred instead to "focus on the Magic."
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