Going into his third year with the Minnesota Timberwolves, Tyus Jones is looking to become a bigger asset to the team. Here are his best and worst case scenarios for this season.
Although he has yet to see any consistent playing time in his first two seasons, Tyus Jones has a chance to come off the bench regularly this season. After the Minnesota Timberwolves signed Jeff Teague in the offseason and traded both Ricky Rubio and Kris Dunn, it was clear they were looking to find more opportunity for Jones.
With the inconsistent playing time has come inconsistent numbers for the 21-year-old Burnsville, Minnesota native. Although he appeared in 60 games last season compared to 37 his rookie season he saw his minutes per game dip from 15.5 to 12.9. With that came a dip in his points per game as he scored 4.2 in his rookie year and 3.5 last year.
Clearly, those are not the biggest drop in numbers in either category however, I hope Jones finds consistency in playing time this season to avoid a setback in his development. It looks as if he should receive more consistent playing time based on ESPN’s projected depth chart.
Not all numbers dropped for Jones last season. He shot 41 percent from the field last season compared to 36 percent in his rookie year. He also increased his 3-point percentage from 31 percent in his rookie year up to 35 percent last season. Jones can very well be the other 3-point weapon the Wolves need to fix that department.
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Jones has his chance to either thrive as an asset or fall to the talent around him next season. Here are the best and worst case scenarios that can come from each.
Worst case scenario
The absolute worst case scenario for Jones would be that he sees less time on the court. Even though this sounds like a little deal I believe this would stunt Jones’ development. Which in the long run is much worse for a project like he is.
If he wants to improve he needs to make valuable usage of his time on the court to earn the right to keep playing. This is vital with so much talent waiting to enter the game as well, especially with the recent signing of Aaron Brooks.
One way to earn Tom Thibodeau’s trust on the court is to become a reliable defender. It’s even more important to do so on a team that is desperate for a defensive improvement such as the Wolves.
Jones finished last season 28th in the league amongst point guards last season with a defensive plus/minus of -0.34. However, Jones won’t ever be the quickest point guard you’ll come across. With speed being an issue he may find himself continuing to struggle at times with keeping NBA point guards in front of him.
While both Teague and Brooks are quicker, there’s a possibility Jones may see his name slide down the depth chart if he can’t contain. Jones is on even thinner ice with both of them being veterans. This puts the pressure on him to really step up on defense.
My fear is that Jones will fall to the pressure. That would result in him receiving less playing time, hindering his development down the road. Sure, he’s only 21-years-old and has a lot of time to improve as an all-around player. But being on a team in “win now” mode like the Wolves are he has to contribute in an efficient way to help get the team to the playoffs and become a larger asset on the team.
However, Jones has shown to thrive under pressure. He was the national sweetheart on Duke’s national title run in 2015. Let’s see if he can continue to thrive under pressure while competing for time.
Best case scenario
Like I just mentioned, Jones has shown to thrive under pressure. This offseason was his chance to do so as he wants to see more time as Teague’s backup.
He as a great opportunity to use this year as a stepping stone. Jones can assert himself as a sixth or seventh man on the team by becoming a solid defender. With tha, he should keep working harder to find a consistent stoke from three as well.
While Jones had a defensive rating of -0.34, his competition, Teague, had a rating of -0.22. This shows how realistic it is for Jones to work and become the best perimeter defender on the team as they aren’t strong in that area. Again he wont be the fastest guard, so his off ball defense will be crucial for him to work on. With that he needs to show grit with hustle and keeping guys in front as much as he can.
With more time should come more threes as well. This is where Jones could also solidify his spot at becoming one of the first few off the bench for Thibs.
Jones was only putting up 1.2 threes per game last season in his short amount of time. However, besides Jamal Crawford the Wolves do not have many reliable three-point shooters. Jones has a chance to become that man for the Wolves and shoot lights out from three.
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He has always been scouted as a better combo guard than shooter. However, last season he showed upside in his shooting from deep. Jones needs to lift some eyebrows in preseason to get more playing time. I believe he will while becoming a reliable player off the bench, keeping his steady development in check.