With DeMarcus Cousins out for the first few months of the season, the Golden State Warriors are without a starting center. Incoming third-year man Damian Jones wants to take that spot.

Last season, JaVale McGee and Zaza Pachulia were the Warriors' usual centers. Now that they're out, the heavy favorite to take their spot is incoming second-year man Jordan Bell who had 13 starts last year.

But Jones, whose team option is coming up in October, intends to take that spot and hopefully lock in a contract extension. As reported by Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area, the 23-year-old said:

“This is a big year for me, so I’ll have to treat it as a contract year,” Jones conceded to NBC Sports Bay Area this week. “The team option is coming up (an Oct. 31 deadline). I’m going in with the mindset that I’m playing for something. Something big.”

“I want to be the starter,” he said.

“But I’m willing to do all the things that they ask me to do,” he added. “That’s what I have in mind, going to camp with a full commitment of giving my all.”

Jones, a 7-foot center out of Vanderbilt, was the 30th overall pick by the Warriors in 2016. In his two years with the team — where he has won two championship rings — Jones has played a total of 25 games where he logged in 1.8 points and 1.5 rebounds per game. He has also played in eight playoff games.