2. Point Guard Swap
When Jones entered the starting lineup to fill the void of the injured Teague, he performed extremely well. You could make the argument that Jones fills the starting lineup role a lot better then Teague does. (I went in-depth about it in an article from last week.)
When Jones plays, he has a different drive then Teague does. His defense is a lot better, and it causes others around him to pick it up as well. Here is a look at Jones’ stats according to NBA.com when he starts, as well as a comparison to Teague.
Jones: 40.0 mpg, 12.3 points per game, 41.7 3-point percentage, 4.0 rebounds, 6.7 assists, 4.0 steals, 0.7 blocks, +15.0 plus/minus
Teague: 33.9 mpg, 13.5 points per game, 41.1 3-point percentage, 2.9 rebounds, 7.5 assists, 1.7 steals, 0.4 blocks, +2.3 plus/minus
Jones’ minute production is a lot higher because of the fact that Aaron Brooks was replacing Jones when he would go to the bench. Jones has showed us why he deserves to be the starter because of his stats, and play.
And now, their respective net ratings:
Jones: 119.6 offensive net rating, 100.3 defensive net rating, 19.3 overall net rating
Teague: 109.9 offensive net rating, 107.3 defensive net rating, 2.6 overall net rating
When Jones enters the starting lineup, good things happen. Plus, there are too many mouths to feed in the starting lineup. Between Butler, Wiggins, and Karl-Anthony Towns, there just aren’t that many shots left for whomever is playing point guard.
Luckily for Jones, he is a pass-first point guard who will distribute the ball. As for Teague, he’s a scorer and likes to shoot the ball.
However, the Wolves do have an issue when it comes to scoring the ball with their bench. According to NBA.com, the Wolves rank 26th in the NBA in bench scoring. What better way to help improve the scoring then to add Teague to the unit? He wants to score the ball, and that’s what he will be able to do all game long on the bench.
The bench needs the extra boost, and that’s why it works out perfectly. Jones can come in and improve the starting lineup and allow the Big Three to score the ball. In turn Teague can improve the bench scoring and continue to shoot the ball.
I get that his contract is huge and teams simply don’t bench players making around $19 million a season, but if it helps the team win more games, then why are we still having this conversation?