When we ranked the NBA’s top 50 free agents entering the 2024 offseason, point guard Tyus Jones came in at No. 15. As I wrote at the time, Jones had long been considered one of the league’s best backup guards but showed in 2023/24 that he was able to maintain his strong per-minute production in a starting role.
As the Wizards’ starting point guard, Jones established new career highs in field goal percentage (48.9%), three-point percentage (41.4%), points per game (12.0), and assists per game (7.3) while continuing to protect the ball better than just about anyone in the league. His 1.0 turnover per game in ’23/24 represented the worst mark of his career.
But nearly three weeks into free agency, Jones remains unsigned, with no clear path to matching or exceeding the $14MM salary he earned last season.
When John Hollinger of The Athletic examined Jones’ situation 10 days ago, he wrote, “(Jones) wants to be a starter and wants to do it for a team better than the Wizards, but he might have to settle for 50 percent of those goals.”
That dilemma could be one reason why the 28-year-old remains unsigned, but I’m not sure it tells the whole story. Even if Jones does settle for 50 percent of those goals, he may have to accept a pay cut too. There are few teams around the NBA with the ability to commit $14MM to a free agent, even via sign-and-trade. That includes the Wizards, who could technically re-sign Jones for $14MM (or more) using his Bird rights but are less than $10MM away from the luxury tax line and aren’t about to become a taxpayer for their current roster.
Many of the teams in need of a point guard when the offseason began have addressed the position with other moves. The Spurs signed Chris Paul. The Pelicans traded for Dejounte Murray. The Suns and Bucks, who needed reliable backups and could only offer minimum-salary deals, added Monte Morris and Delon Wright, respectively.
The Magic looked to me like a potential fit for Jones. Even once they’d used up all their cap space, they had the full room exception ($7.98MM) available. Jones could’ve provided a steady, veteran presence in a young backcourt that features promising young guards like Jalen Suggs, Anthony Black, and Cole Anthony but lacks a reliable distributor. However, the Magic – apparently not wanting to bring aboard a player who will take significant playing time away from their younger players – opted to sign veteran point guard Cory Joseph as their 15th man.
There are some other fits that could work for Jones, but many of those teams can only offer the veteran’s minimum, if that. The Heat, for example, could use a play-making guard like Jones to give them an alternative to score-first options like Terry Rozier and Tyler Herro, but Miami doesn’t want to surpass the second tax apron and currently doesn’t have enough flexibility below the second apron to sign a 15th man — even for the minimum.
The Kings are one interesting option. Sacramento has Jordan McLaughlin, Devin Carter, and Keon Ellis behind star point guard De’Aaron Fox, but McLaughlin may be better suited as a third option, Carter is a rookie who is recovering from shoulder surgery, and Ellis isn’t really a true point guard. Jones could make sense as Fox’s backup, but it would probably take a sign-and-trade to get him a reasonable salary and squeeze him in under the first tax apron. I expect the Kings will simply lean on McLaughlin and Malik Monk as ball-handlers when Fox is off the floor.
There are two teams with the cap room necessary to make Jones a strong offer, and both the Pistons and Jazz could theoretically benefit from having a veteran like him around to mentor their young guards (Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey, and Marcus Sasser in Detroit; Keyonte George and Isaiah Collier in Utah).
But it’s unclear if Jones would start on either roster, and he’d be moving from one lottery team to another, which might not appeal much to him. If they want to be involved in the Cooper Flagg sweepstakes, the Pistons and Jazz also may not be eager to upgrade their current rosters any further by signing a solid rotation player like Jones.
It’s hard to find an obvious fit for Jones. There’s certainly no team out there that’s in position to contend, needs a starting point guard, and has the cap flexibility necessary to make him a strong offer. It’s unclear if there’s any club that meets even two of those three criteria.
We want to know what you think. Do you see a good match for Jones out there? Where do you think he ends up, and on what sort of contract?
Head to the comment section below to share your thoughts!
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