Tyus Jones’ time with the Minnesota Timberwolves has come to an end. The Timberwolves will not match the qualifying offer tendered by the Memphis Grizzlies according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Among reasons for not matching on Jones: Minnesota is pursuing max cap space in 2020 free agency. Without space this summer, Wolves were a finalist for D’Angelo Russell. They’ll work to get back into market with real flexibility next year. https://t.co/5bh2fSn5Sz
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 10, 2019
One of the reasons the Wolves elected not to match the offer was to maintain cap flexibility for next off-season. Minnesota was in the running for free-agent guard D’Angelo Russell so they will look to try to make another run at an impact signing next season.
The Grizzlies added a young player who has shown promise to play either behind or alongside Ja Morant. Jones averaged 6.9 points and 4.8 assists per game last season for the Wolves. While Jones is not a great shooter only shooting 31.7% from three last season, he does other things well.
As a floor general, Jones excels at taking care of the ball and setting up others to succeed. He plays a mistake-free brand of basketball which will be nice on a young team like Memphis to help settle the offense. Although he doesn’t possess the tools often required of perimeter defenders, he creates steals at a high rate. ESPN’s Defensive Real Plus-Minus, rate Jones as a top 20 defensive point guard.
Tyus Jones ranked in the 99th percentile in offense efficiency this season after adjusting for the value of his passing. His 6.7 assist-to-turnover ratio in the half court and 8.0 in transition ranked 1st and 2nd in the NBA respectively.
— Synergy Basketball (@SynergySST) July 8, 2019
For Memphis adding Jones will be a decent value for a team in the rebuilding phase to have someone who can take care of the basketball and give them quality minutes. For Minnesota, there are a few questions about the move. With Jeff Teague only having one year left on his deal and being involved in trade rumors, the Wolves don’t have a clear plan at point guard for the long term at any level. It will remain to be seen if Minnesota will be an attractive free-agent destination next summer. Overall the Wolves would rather bet on the possibilities than to bring back Jones for the next three years.
