Minnesota Timberwolves: Should Aaron Brooks take Tyus Jones’ spot?

It’s been a sluggish start for Minnesota native Tyus Jones and with veteran point guard Aaron Brooks warming the bench behind him, is it time for a change?

Eight games into the NBA season and most Minnesota Timberwolves fans have probably already grown a couple more grey hairs.

With five wins locked away already, it’s also fair to say the season looks more promising than some fans may have ever seen.

As mentioned though, it hasn’t always been sunshine, rainbows and … airplanes?

Tyus Jones – the Timberwolves reserve point guard – has been one of those dark clouds this year, and with the Tom Thibodeau-seasoned Aaron Brooks waiting in the shadows, Jones’ time to impress might just be running out.

With the whole of Minnesota backing him in, Jones has been unimpressive thus far.

The former NCAA Tournaments Most Outstanding Player – despite the Timberwolves minor successes early on – has shot just over 35 percent for his 2.8 points per game, including just one 3-pointer on only six attempts.

It hasn’t just been the scoring that has plagued Jones though, his usual sneaky-good passing has seemed to regress in this early season too.

Last season, Jones averaged 2.6 assists with just 0.6 turnovers, all in just 12.9 minutes per game. While this year he has contributed just 2.3 assists with 1 turnover per game, in over 2 extra minutes (15.0).

It’s clearly a small sample size, but the fact remains that these statistics are worrying for the Timberwolves who – barring the win in New Orleans – have watched Jones struggle to warrant the minutes he has received.

Aaron Brooks, who was the last free agent signed by the Wolves this summer, is the player who may benefit most from Jones’ struggles.

Brooks, 32, is in his ninth season out of Oregon and has witnessed this one from the comfort of the bench. With Jones’ season so far though, he will be certainly looking to show his talents if he gets a chance.

It is a different skill set from Jones that Brooks possesses, and arguably one more suited to the current Minnesota bench.

First of all, in his 7 minutes he has played in junk time this year, he has already made the same amount of long-range attempts that his counterpart Jones has made. Uno.

https://twitter.com/Timberwolves/status/923009691394830337

In a bench unit that is naturally led by ball dominant guard Jamal Crawford, Brooks ability to bury the 3-ball could be crucial in spacing the floor and keeping defenders from zoning on to Crawford and making his life extra hard.

Although JC may never have passed this up to Jones, his inability to trust Tyus leaves him with no choice but to force a bad shot, luckily it is cleaned up by Gorgui Dieng.

https://twitter.com/balldontstop/status/921731065584087041

In this video, you will see multiple occasions where Jones hands off the ball to Crawford to initiate the offense, before clearing to a corner or wing to wait for a kick out pass from Crawford. Jamal may have been locked in on that night, but he won’t be always.

This will be when Jones will have to improve his shooting to give Crawford a viable option, and not force him to take a low percentage shot.

Here is where Aaron Brooks might give Jones’ world a shake-up. In Brooks, you get a nifty veteran guard, who has drained the long ball at 37 percent over his 615 NBA games, doing so on over 3 attempts per game.

His shooting stroke, along with Brooks ability to score in a number of other ways, may be the deciding factor if coach Thibs does look to make a change at the one-guard.

Minnesota’s bench has ranked 20th in Bench Points this season, although even though without any help from Jones, they lead the league in bench 3-point shooting, hitting at a scorching 44.7 percent of their 3’s.

Brooks or Jones the Timberwolves likely wouldn’t actually be able to sustain this shooting, but they will have a much better chance at it if they can produce steady shooting from every position.

A lot of people don’t know that Brooks actually averaged over 19 points and 5 assists in his only  season as a starter, with 43/39/82 shooting splits to boot. Or that he posted 11.6 points ad 3.2 assists in only 23 minutes a game last time he played under Coach Tom Thibodeau (2014-15).

Oh, and these numbers were just two and a half years ago, so Brooks may be able to produce at least similar numbers if given a similar role.

Don’t get me wrong, Crawford will lead this bench unit, but he will need players that compliment him.

Jones is a diminutive floor general who needs the ball in his hands to be effective, which he has shown he is (see below). But if he cannot improve on his off-ball game, and if he cannot get his above-average passing IQ back in order, he may not be the answer.

Like everyone in Minnesota, we’re rooting for the hometown kid to pull through. With Jones’ record of winning and clutch moments – he isn’t nicknamed Tyus Stones for no reason – we also think he can find his feet.

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But he must know, Brooks is ready, and more  than willing to swipe his minutes as soon as the chance arrives. Friendly competition for spots is extremely healthy for NBA role players, and hopefully, Brooks bearing down on Jones can help Tyus lift his game.