Tyus Jones is shaping up to be the Timberwolves point guard of the future

Tyus Jones has gone from a rookie with a slim role to an important player for the MinnesotaTimberwolves. He’s one of the most valuable players on the bench and has exceeded expectations while filling in as a starter at times. Acknowledging that, is Jones priming himself to be the future starting point guard of the Wolves?

The hometown kid has been living his dream since the draft night of 2015. Growing up as a Minnesota Timberwolves fan in Minnesota, he was a state champion for Apple Valley High School before attending Duke.

There, he became a national sensation as he led Duke to the 2015 National Title. In the title game, he scored 23 points and had five rebounds en route to becoming the Final Four most outstanding player.

Jones has always had the winning pedigree needed to be a successful point guard in the league. He may not be the quickest or flashiest player, but he knows the game well. He understands what he needs to do to make any team he plays on better and does just that. Not to mention he plays with hustle and grit which is sometimes hard to come by.

An example that comes to mind is when the Wolves played the Cleveland Cavilers early in January. LeBron James squared up on Jones perfectly and had a nasty block on his potential layup. Minutes later, Jones responded with a breakaway dunk with James trailing not far behind.

Jones simply never gives up.

Which is why the idea that Jones may be the future point guard of the Wolves is one to consider. The Wolves shipped away former fifth overall pick Kris Dunn to the Chicago Bulls as part of the Jimmy Butler trade, not Jones. Then the Wolves sent Ricky Rubio to the Jazz, clearing the way for Jones a tad bit more.

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They then signed Jeff Teague to a two-year deal with a third-year player option which assured Jones would still be coming off the bench. Teague’s deal, however, will end when Jones is around 24 years old and Teague will be entering his age 31 season when he would be eligible for a new deal. By then, Jones will have two more years to grow and will still cost the Wolves less than that of an All-Star.

I’m not saying the Wolves shouldn’t approach an All-Star free agent in a couple of season if they can get one. I am saying Jones has shown he is capable of starting at the point for the Wolves down the road. Again, he would cost less than an All-Star and he has already shown he meshes well with the team.

Besides, the Wolves have already dished out a large portion of their cap space to Andrew Wiggins over the next five plus years. Soon they will have to extend Karl-Anthony Towns and Jimmy Butler to larger contracts, eating up more space. There won’t be much room to sign an All-Star type player at point guard once Teague’s deal is expired. This gives the Wolves even more reason to keep Jones around.

If his numbers were down this season with more playing time then sure, it’s understandable to slow down on his future. However, that has not been the case.

First and foremost, Jones is on pace to appear in the most games in a season in his career thus. With that he has a much better per game average in nearly every major statistical category this season than his previous two. He’s scoring five points per game on 46.3 percent shooting  and 35.7 from percent three. He’s shooting better on the free throw line at 88.2 percent, dishing out 2.8 assists per game (his highest per game average is 2.9 in his rookie season) and forcing 1.2 steals per game.

He has not been as efficient as a starter, however, he has been a commander as the point guard.

In 33.7 minutes per game in his ten starts this season, Jones has averaged 8.8 points and five assists. On defense Jones has been a serious threat averaging 2.8 steals per game. Although all the fundamentals may not be there yet, he has shown a lot of promise on the defensive end.

Besides stats, Jones has above average ball handling and a love for the game to go along with all his other assets.

He has all the assets to become an impactful starter in the league. He meshes well with the team he is on now. By the time his opportunity may come he will be five years into his NBA career. That should leave him enough time to become fully adapted to the league and prime himself to become the future starter of the Wolves.

Next: Timberwolves: 5 takeaways from the trade deadline

Then, just maybe, the kid who grew up just miles away from the Target Center as a Wolves fan could become their starting point guard.