11:59pm: Jones officially signed the offer sheet on Sunday, according to RealGM’s transactions log. Minnesota will have two days to match it.
10:51pm: The Grizzlies have agreed to terms on an offer sheet with restricted free agent point guard Tyus Jones, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). Once Jones formally signs the Grizzlies’ offer sheet and it’s presented to the Timberwolves, Minnesota will have two days to match it.
According to Charnia (via Twitter), the 23-year-old’s offer sheet is worth $24MM over three years. Malika Andrews of ESPN (via Twitter) pegs the value at $28MM, with agent Kevin Bradbury confirming to Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic (Twitter link) that $28MM is the deal’s maximum value via incentives. Bradbury also tells Krawczynski that he and Jones looked elsewhere on the free agent market after they couldn’t find common ground with the Wolves.
“We negotiated in good faith with Minnesota, but did not receive an offer I felt was fair so we had to look elsewhere,” Bradbury said.
The Grizzlies lost a restricted free agent point guard of their own today, having reached an agreement with the Mavericks to send Delon Wright to Dallas in a sign-and-trade in exchange for a pair of second-round picks. That deal left Memphis with little point guard depth beyond Ja Morant and De’Anthony Melton, so it looks like the team will try to add a replacement for Wright on a similar contract after acquiring a couple draft picks in the process.
The Grizzlies will use their mid-level exception to sign Jones, who averaged 6.9 PPG, 4.8 APG, and 1.2 SPG last year in 68 games (22.9 MPG) for Minnesota. The club used a similar tactic a year ago, using its full mid-level exception to sign Spurs RFA Kyle Anderson to an offer sheet.
It remains to be seen whether the Timberwolves will match Memphis’ offer. The Wolves entered the offseason reportedly in the market for a point guard, but selected Jarrett Culver in the draft, then missed out on top target D’Angelo Russell. As a result, Shabazz Napier is currently the only point guard on the depth chart behind Jeff Teague, and it’s not clear if Minnesota even plans to keep Napier for the regular season.
The Wolves’ lack of depth would seemingly make them inclined to match Jones’ offer sheet, but as ESPN’s Bobby Marks observes (via Twitter), doing so would only leave them about $1MM below the luxury tax line, reducing their flexibility for the rest of the offseason (and regular season).
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Cuban pushed a stack out and Memphis looked at the numbers and offered to split the pot… Cuban said sure I’ll take the bigger split.
Why do the Cavs do NOTHING.
Good question, but is Tyus Jones really needed in Cleveland? I’d think Cleveland would be more in need of a big wing or maybe a center.
Actually before the moan & groan I was noticing that Cuban pulled off an intimidation play like in law or business where you threaten a hostile action just to settle for a positive merger or plea bargain. S&Ts allow for that, a split of the pot. I wonder why it’s not done more frequently.
Yes Tyus not a good for CLE but Khem Birch is and darn it, is Joachim Noah all they way done? I think not. We think of him as overpaid but he doesn’t have to be now. Haven’t heard his name out there.
Some of the deals out there are head scratchers… You can pull a guy off the street like Tim Frazier and get 10 pts per 36. 8-9m seems like an overpay. McConnell is better and got 2 yrs 7M.
The McConnell signing will be a steal.
Tim Frazier won’t get you 2 steals a game
Agreed. Last offseason Grizz handed RFA Kyle Anderson the full Mid-Level Exception. Tyus Jones at $8M per yr is an egregious overpay. Youth on his side at 23, but he’s a backup PG exclusively that doesn’t shoot the ball well. Fairly active on Defense, but similar to the Cory Joseph deal… Memphis overpaid and likely bid against themselves. Look at the Jazz (a smart FO) signed Emmanuel Mudiay to a minimum contract to compete for backup PG minutes. Or the previously mentioned Pacers & the TJ McConnell deal. Don’t see Jones as an upgrade to Delon Wright. In fact, it strikes me as a downgrade.
Yea… I mean it’s too much for a guy that will get 12 mins per game.
The McConnell signing also weakens a rival… I bet Indy had that in mind. Butler was the new McConnell for the playoffs, the PG Simmons wasn’t, but Butler left and Philly needed TJM the year before.
Tyus is popular in MIN so I predict they will match.
It’s a lot for Tyus, but I think it would be worth it for the Wolves to match. PG is an important position and Jones is a great back-up and fill-in starter.
Great agent work
This guy stinks just like his brother. His agent might be able to negotiate so I get $30 an hour working at Wendy’s
If someone told me that Jones was given an offer sheet, and asked me to guess which team it was, I wouldn’t have guessed Memphis with 20 chances. Even if there’s a talent-price argument, this fails on fit alone.
Tyus Jones is better the Delon Wright. So it’s a good signing