How much will Tyus Jones be paid on his next contract?
Timberwolves third-year guard Tyus Jones has had some shining moments this season, particularly in a stretch of three games in which he started for an injured Jeff Teague. What will Jones’ next contract look like?
With contracts booming in the NBA at the moment, just how much money is Tyus Jones looking at on his next contract, and is it worth it for the Wolves to keep him around? (Side note: he isn’t a free agent until the summer of 2019, but it’s worth a look already as Jones is finally breaking out as a pro.)
I’m not going to lie, ever since Tyus Jones joined the Timberwolves back in 2015, I’ve been rooting for him. A Minnesota native, Jones had a college year about as good as they come, winning the NCAA championship with Duke and taking home the Final Four Most Outstanding Player award.
Although never being a star – or even a starter apart from a brief stint earlier this season, Jones is capable of having a big impact on the court, as he’s proven on a number of occasions.
One issue head coach Tom Thibodeau may eventually have with Jones, however, is his lack of scoring. Personally, I don’t find it to be a huge problem as his excellent court vision allows him to set up other players on the court, and he can find his way to the basket and knock down the occasional three pointer.
Yet the main issue the team seemed to have with Ricky Rubio was his inconsistent scoring, and often low point totals that he himself balanced out with plenty of assists. While Jones and Rubio have different playing styles and impact the team in different ways, I would hate to see Jones’ lack of scoring lead to a Rubio-style departure in the future.
Still on his rookie contract, Jones is very feasible for Minnesota to have around at the moment. As the Wolves’ backup point guard, Jones is averaging 16.7 minutes per game, and has appeared in every game this season despite Thibodeau’s infamously short rotation.
Currently in his third year, Jones is yet to have a salary exceeding $2 million, although with the Wolves’ exercising their team option on him for next year shortly before the start of this season, Jones will receive a $2.5 million paycheck for the 2018-19 season. As mentioned, he won’t actually hit the open market for another 18 months or so.
While that kind of money is nothing to laugh at, the average salary in the NBA this season sits at $6.5 million, and with contracts only increasing of late, that number could increase in the future.
I asked some of my fellow contributors here at Dunking With Wolves for their opinion on what Jones’ next contract should be worth, and three year $18-20 million contract was the most popular option, with all agreeing that the Timberwolves’ should try to retain Jones, and that his play this year had increased his worth.
In comparison, let’s take a look at a couple of bench guards’ current contracts.
Michael Carter-Williams, a former Rookie of the Year winner who has been on a downhill slide ever since, signed a one-year, $2.7 million contract with Charlotte as a free agent this offseason. He is currently averaging the same minutes per game as Jones.
After entering the league as an undrafted free agent and winning a ring in Cleveland, Matthew Dellavedova signed a four-year, $38 million contract with the Bucks. Initially signed as a starter, which he spent more than half of his first year doing, Dellavedova has since been coming off the bench in a role similar to Jones.
Although a shooting guard instead of Jones’ position at the point, Tim Hardaway, Jr. was similarly selected with the 24th pick in the draft and only graduated to a $2 million salary in the fourth and final year of his rookie contract last season. New York gave Hardaway a four-year, $71 million contract to welcome him to the world of free agency, and he has since become the Knicks’ regular starting shooting guard.
With such a large spectrum of contracts, it’s impossible to pinpoint exactly what Jones’ contract could see him making, and what kind of a bet other teams, if any, are willing to take on him.
From the Timberwolves’ perspective they have Jamal Crawford, currently serving as their sixth man on a two-year deal worth around $9 million with a player option for the second year. Crawford, however, is in an interesting position after being bought out by Atlanta after being traded during the offseason, and is thus receiving money other than just that from the Timberwolves.
While Jones and Crawford are in a much different point in their careers, I think the blueprint of the Crawford deal could work for retaining Jones for the future.
Crawford’s career achievements and experience are balanced out by Jones’ youth and potential, and while Crawford signed what may be one of, if not the, last deal for him in the NBA, Jones is signing his first as a free agent.
The two-year, $9 million contract signed by Crawford would line up with a four-year, $18 million deal for Jones, who has more playing years left in him and a potential to breakout even further as an NBA star.
Only time will tell what deal Jones will receive next in the NBA, but I personally hope to see him stick around in Minnesota, especially if he continues on his path of improvement.
Tyus Jones is currently enjoying a breakout season that Wolves’ fans hope will continue into the last year of his rookie contract next season. After next year is all said and done, however, Jones is going to be signing his name on a new contract, and whether he stays in Minnesota is all up to them.