There is plenty of trade talk surrounding the Minnesota Timberwolves these days. But while most of it is focused on star forward Jimmy Butler, who recently requested out, according to reports, there is also apparently some buzz about their young backup point guard, Tyus Jones.
Writing in a recent column about Andrew Wiggins, Zach Lowe took a moment to note that the Phoenix Suns have recently called about Jones. Via ESPN (emphasis mine):
At some point, the tools and the highlights have to translate into something better than “smaller Rudy Gay.” If Minnesota moves Butler or Tyus Jones — and Phoenix has asked about Jones, sources say — that would at least place Wiggins into some lineups with only one other primary ball-handler.
This is interesting from the Wolves’ point of view simply due to the state of the franchise right now, but it’s more notable from the Suns’ side of things. In the past year, the Suns have traded away Eric Bledsoe and Brandon Knight, leaving them with a void at point guard.
As it stands, their current point guard group heading into training camp is Isaiah Canaan and Shaquille Harrison. For a team that made some big moves in the offseason with the hopes of a big improvement, that’s simply not good enough. But with free agency wrapped up, and star point guards likely to fetch too steep a price, the Suns have limited options for improving the position.
While he might not be a big name, targeting Jones could be a sneaky good move by the Suns. It would be interesting to see what the Wolves would ask for in return, but Jones was quietly pretty solid in limited minutes off the bench last season, finishing with the fourth-best net rating differential among Wolves rotation players.
Going after an under-utilized young backup who’s shown some potential makes a lot of sense for the Suns considering the circumstances.
Courtesy: CBS Sports
