Although he said it’s not the “end all, be all” for him, Grizzlies point guard Tyus Jones admitted in his end-of-season press conference that he’d like to be a starter, writes Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal.
“You always strive for more, but at the same time with that being said, I’ve always viewed myself as a starter, even coming off the bench,” Jones said. “A lot of times being called one of the best backups in the league, I never called myself that. I always just viewed that I was just a starter that’s coming of the bench. That’s always been my mindset.”
Jones will be an unrestricted free agent this summer and Cole notes that the Grizzlies will be at a disadvantage if Jones prioritizes the opportunity to play a starting role, given that Ja Morant is obviously the team’s long-term starter at point guard.
However, executive VP of basketball operations Zach Kleiman indicated the Grizzlies have interest in re-signing Jones, referring to him as a player who has “always been kind of like a cultural, foundational type piece for the group.” And, for his part, Jones hasn’t signaled that he plans to leave Memphis.
“It’s definitely not going to be an easy decision by any means,” Jones said of his upcoming free agency. “I don’t have my mind made up one way or another.”
Here’s more on the Grizzlies:
- Kleiman was happy with what the Grizzlies accomplished in 2021/22, but made it clear that he believes there’s still room to improve, per Michael Wallace of Grind City Media. “The goal is, and continues to be, to win a championship here,” Kleiman said. “The decision-making North Star continues to be what’s going to maximize our chances of doing so, building in a sustainable way. I’m excited to see what opportunities there are to make us better. We’re going to look at everything on the table… to increase our likelihood of getting us to the point we believe we can get to.”
- Head coach Taylor Jenkins conveyed a similar sentiment in his end-of-season comments, as Wallace relays: “It’s been an unbelievable year, but there are also plenty of ways we can get better. Our guys on this team have never wavered in their ability to adjust and adapt to whatever challenges we’ve faced. And we’ve found success together. After a win, after a loss, no matter, we found ways to stick with our values and get better from it. We take that same mindset into the offseason.”
- Coming off a strong year as a rotation player, Grizzlies forward Brandon Clarke will be eligible for a rookie scale extension this summer and earned plenty of praise from Kleiman at season’s end this weekend. “Brandon had a great year, and he and the coaches leaned into what he’s great at,” Kleiman said, per Parker Fleming of Grizzly Bear Blues (Twitter link). “We’re in a great place with Brandon, and he fits great with what we’re trying to do.”
- In a subscriber-only story, Chris Herrington of The Daily Memphian explores what’s next for the Grizzlies following their second-round elimination.
- In case you missed it, we passed along a pair of Ja Morant news items on Sunday night.
Jones has set himself up for starting PG role. Great ast/to ratio. Improved outside shot, still young at 25.
Knicks target Jones but they have no cap room.
How about Lakers?
After Lakers offload Westbrook and other contracts, …..
Lakers can make good trades with Grizzlies?
He’s in the right role (high end backup) now, playing with a good young group that he fits with. He doesn’t profile as a starter, at least not a quality one. Of course, if some team (foolishly) gets the idea that he can be a quality starter and offers to pay him as such, then he should sign and be on his way. He’ll be back to his current role soon enough, but with a starter’s salary.
What are u basing ur opinion on?
The combination of size and athleticism creates a double minus that is difficult to overcome. His skills are starter quality, but not outlier good, which IMO would be needed to get a team excited about him being their starter. Per minute stats don’t always translate, and, when they don’t, physical traits (or a lack of them) are usually the reason.
Im guessing you’re saying hes lacking in size/athleticism but he’s bigger & more athletic than FVV who is a world champion & all-star. Tyus has shown over & over again that he’s a big time player. I mean he was Final 4 MOP & led his team to a national title as a freshman starting pg, other than Bibby & maybe Brunson who does that? The fact that he’s a proven winner & an extremely efficient/productive pg is definitely gonna get teams excited about him
Only 3 other FR won F4 MOP, and none were PGs, so he’s got that one all by lonesome. Other FR PGs to lead teams to a NC would include Teague (UK) and McNamara (SYR) and I’m sure others, including Bibby, but not Brunson (who was a backup as a FR, to R. Archdiacano).
He’s not bigger, and certainly not more athletic, than FVV, although FVV is certainly the best comp to a quality starting NBA PG for Jones and his agent to put out there. FVV was somehow athletic enough to match up with NBA wing players when he played mostly the 2.
I could see him starting. I just don’t see him as a guy you’d pursue to be your starter. Playing both behind, and sometimes alongside, a guy like Morant (uber athletic PG who should play off the ball at times) is a great fit for him. I’d never tell a guy not to aspire higher, but I wouldn’t encourage any club to pursue him at starter FA money. There are only about 20 guys in the league that would be worth that, so it’s not really an insult.
I feel like you’re caught up in the athleticism and measurable way too much. This kid is a big time basketball player. For a team like NYK that badly needs a steadying influence at pg he’s worth $20M easy. He’s the difference between them starting to tank next March & them winning playoff series next May. Stockton, Cassell, Andre Miller, Lowry, these are not athletic guys yet they were all great pgs bc they just knew how to play the game & they were physically & mentally tough. FVV fits that mold too. Not sure where you get that Freddie is bigger & “certainly” more athletic than Tyus. Tyus is taller & has a longer wingspan. Freddie is definitely stronger but Tyus is quicker & has more burst
I think a fair comp for Tyus Jones is Monte Morris. Another small intelligent PG who has an excellent assist/turnover ratio and challenges defensively. This type of player is an excellent backup and can fill in as a starter but ideally leads a bench unit.
He could maybe work as a starter but only if he is the 4th or 5th best starter and surrounded by stronger defenders.
I think he should stick with the Griz as he can fill in for Morant and provide playmaking and scoring off of the bench
I’m not caught up in measurables, but I have to look at them because they correlate to success across all levels of the game at least as much production does. A lot of bad personnel decisions have resulted from looking too much at measurables. But even more have resulted from ignoring them.
My info on measurables for FVV vs Jones come from my memory of scouting reports. But its really not that important here since the two players are so similar on the factors mentioned. Measurables didn’t stop FVV from becoming a quality starter, so they might not preclude Jones either. I wouldn’t argue that.
The Knicks situation is not as its characterized by the 2k’ers that post on this board. Their situation at PG is much stronger than it was at this time last year. At this point, it would be a poor use of their finite resources to add another PG under a big FA contract who’s only a possible starter.
What are you using to judge Tyus Jones defensive capabilities? Is it just his measurables? He has been a decent defender from what I’ve seen. If he were a starter he would be in the top 20 defensively as starters go. He’s better defensively than Morant amd Donovan Mitchell. They have measureables but not the effort or focus to be decent defenders.
I never said he was a bad defender. I said he was small and a subpar athlete. Seriously, neither you, nor I, nor anyone else, can say what he would be, offensively or defensively, if he were a starter. Simply because he isn’t.
Do you think that, if he started, he’d be a top 20 PG overall-? If not, he’s certainly not someone who should be a FA target at a price point above MLE. Teams don’t compete with large parts of their salary cap for bottom third starters. They aren’t that hard to find.
He has led the NBA in assist to turnover ratio the last 4 years running. He sees his self as a starter because he should be playing starter minutes.
He should sign to a team that will play him 28 to 32 minutes a night not 20. He shouldn’t accept less than 15 million per. Now if Memphis wants to offer 17 or 18 or whatever is 3 million more than my other suitors for me to come off the bench then I would consider it.
This is pretty clearly the guy that NYK should go after as their new starting pg. He’d work for DC as well but I think Fultz is a slightly better fit for them. If Minnesota can trade D’Lo then Tyus would be a perfect fit back home in Minnesota too. If I had to predict I say he stays in Memphis just bc i trust their front office more than NY’s. Knicks should go hard after this kid tho. He’ll never be an all-star but he’d have an all-star type effect on their team
The gm, owner & prob even head coach would get crucified if they ever actually pulled the trigger but I wonder what type of offers Memphis could get for Ja Morant this summer…
He would just be perfect back in Minny. High usage sponges like KAT and Ant, both of whom are great but could care less about turnovers can have him fit right in.
Maybe Memphis acquires the poormans Tyus Jones in Jordan McLaughlin as part of some SnT.
Trade Morant to Knicks for Quickley, Toppin, and a haul of draft picks + pick swaps.
Sign Jones to be starting PG Quickley to be back up.
Possibly sign and trade Brandon Clarke with Toppin as an immediate replacement. Or Keep Clarke and Toppin replaces Anderson.
Grizzlies have proven they can win without Morant. Financial Flexibility + haul of draft picks keeps their window open longer.
Morant, Brooks, Clarke need new contracts after next season.
Bane needs a new contract after 2023 season.
I’m pretty sure other teams could top that offer.. Herro, Vincent, Strus plus 2 1sts & 2 pick swaps from Miami beats it easy.. Portland would prob give up Simons plus multiple prospects & multiple picks
The next step for the Grizzlies is to move on from Brooks. Bad shot selection, low-efficiency chucker who doesn’t make plays for others. Sure, he can defend but so can plenty of other guys in the league. An upgrade there I think would help a lot.
Brooks had an off year with injuries. A trade would be a sell low.
The Griz have so many options on paper! I would just cut his minutes… teams like to start their good defenders.
Cutting his minutes would be a good idea, too. Could have a nice role off the bench.