Minnesota Timberwolves: Ranking 5 former Wolves in NBA bubble
By Josh Tyler
No. 5 – Tyus Jones
Stats with Wolves
- Four seasons, 247 games
- 5.1 points, 3.3 assists, 1.5 rebounds, 1 steal per game
While Tyus Jones‘ stats certainly don’t jump off the page, he is a key figure in Minnesota basketball history as one of the best high school players to come out of the state in recent memory.
And now, with his brother Tre Jones and former high school teammate and current Portland Trail Blazer Gary Trent Jr. both attending Duke University shows the spotlight that Tyus put on Minnesota basketball.
The elder Jones went on to win a national championship at Duke while being named Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four. Then, Flip Saunders and the Minnesota Timberwolves traded up to grab him at the No. 24 pick in 2015’s draft.
While in Minnesota, Jones played mostly a backup role to Rubio and eventually Jeff Teague before he left for the Memphis Grizzlies in restricted free agency.
Tyus Jones has proven to be one of the league’s most efficient backup point guards. In 2019 with the Wolves, he posted an NBA record 6.9-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. He had plenty of highlights while with the Wolves, including this memorable dunk on LeBron James after he had been blocked.
Jones has been a key member of a rising Memphis Grizzlies team that still has a shot at making noise in the playoffs.