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Last updated: 9/30/2019
Last updated: 9/30/2019
Last updated: 9/30/2019
2022 Free Agents - Tyus Jones
Summary
Coming out of college and for the early parts of his career, I was a firm believer that Jones could be a solid starting point guard. He has always had a great assist to turnover ratio, and generally just makes the right plays. However, he just hasn't been able to put enough pressure on the defense to be a consistent play-maker, and thus he has been stuck as a high-end backup. He doesn't get to the rim very often, and he shoots more from midrange than most guards.
However, he does hit a good percentage from midrange, and has a nice floater game, including being able to hit floaters going to his left. His three-point shooting has fluctuated a bit, as he had a nice shooting season in '21-'22 at 40% but is only at 35% for his career, and over the past five seasons has bounced back and forth between good and bad shooting season.
Defensively, Jones is solid but is somewhat limited by his size, as he's neither tall nor super strong. He has a solid steal rate but isn't a lockdown defender.
Jones will still only be 26 when he hits free agency in 2022, so I would be comfortable that he could continue to be an effective backup even on a long-term contract, and possibly even a starter on certain teams. After a very good contract year, Jones will look to get more than the full MLE but may struggle to do so considering how few teams have cap space. If he re-signs with the Grizzlies, I expect it to be on a contract worth more than the full MLE.
Cap Considerations
Jones will be an unrestricted free agent with a $16 million cap hold and full Bird rights. As his cap hold exceeds the salary he will get in free agency, his cap hold is not really relevant. If the Grizzlies re-sign Jones, his cap hold will be replaced by his starting salary, and the Grizzlies may still have some cap space available depending on his salary and what happens with their other free agents. There's also a chance that the Grizzlies operate over the cap in 2022 and retain their own free agents while having the full Non-Taxpayer MLE and the Bi-Annual Exception to add players.
If Jones demands a starting salary of more than the full $10.3 million Non-Taxpayer Mid-Level Exception, only teams with cap space will be able to sign him, unless a sign-and-trade is worked out. It is possible that Jones could be had for the full MLE or slightly less.
Potential Teams: Rockets, Grizzlies, Wizards, Bulls, Clippers
Predicted Contract: 4-year, $44.5 million (4th year player option) with the Rockets, 15% trade bonus
Actual Contract: 2-year, $29 million ($1M in additional unlikely incentives) with the Grizzlies
I always thought the either Jones would leave Memphis and get the full MLE, or he would re-sign and get slightly more than that, so I'm not surprised with this contract, other than the fact that it's only for two years.
Last updated: 7/10/2022
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