Minnesota Timberwolves will not match offer sheet for Tyus Jones
By Ben Beecken
The Minnesota Timberwolves will decline to match the offer sheet that restricted free agent Tyus Jones signed with the Memphis Grizzlies.
Just prior to the end of the 48-hour window in which the Minnesota Timberwolves had the opportunity to retain restricted free agent Tyus Jones, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the Wolves had opted not to match the offer sheet.
The Timberwolves confirmed the decision in a statement from president of basketball operations Gersson Rosas later on Tuesday evening.
Jones’ offer from Memphis was for three years and $28 million. The dollar amount is about right for what Jones can provide, but generally a bit much for a backup point guard.
The bigger issue with the Wolves potentially matching, however, is that it would have put them within whispering distance of the luxury tax this year.
Minnesota would be roughly $750K-1M below the luxury tax if they matched the Tyus Jones offer sheet. That would include 14 players including the partially/non guaranteed contracts of Shabazz Napier and Trevor Graham.
— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) July 8, 2019
On top of that, as Wojnarowski reports, the Wolves are focused on having maximum cap space in the summer of 2020 to add a superstar alongside Karl-Anthony Towns, and committing $9 million per year to a backup point guard isn’t the best way to do that.
Among reasons for not matching on Jones: Minnesota is pursuing max cap space in 2020 free agency. Without space this summer, Wolves were a finalist for D’Angelo Russell. They’ll work to get back into market with real flexibility next year. https://t.co/5bh2fSn5Sz
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 10, 2019
Of course, there’s always the Russell Westbrook shoe that has yet to drop; while it’s unlikely that the Wolves would actually land the superstar point guard, Rosas is clearly attempting to keep his options open, and adding another point guard on a so-so deal would have been a step in the wrong direction.
As for Jones, he’ll join No. 2-overall pick Ja Morant in Memphis. Morant will presumably start from Day One. Jones will surely see heavy minutes as his backup early on, and will also eventually serve as a positive trade asset for the rebuilding Grizzlies as a steady point guard on a deal that would be palatable for most contenders.
While it will admittedly be hard for many Wolves fans to sit back and concentrate on what Rosas has done so far this summer with the Westbrook drama hanging over the NBA, that’s exactly what we’ll be attempting to do over the next few weeks.
Next. Timberwolves win third straight in Las Vegas. dark
The 3-0 Summer League Wolves will be back in action on Wednesday night, too. In the meantime, stay tuned for any Westbrook-related news…anything could happen.