The Orlando Magic’s case for and against Tyus Jones

The Orlando Magic’s case for and against Tyus Jones

he is one of the more popular free agency magic could pursue this summer every fan has talked about him at some point we talked about him at the deadline it’s time to talk about him again the case for and against tus Jones on today’s episode of Locked on Magic you are a locked on Magic your daily Orlando Magic podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day and you are indeed locked on Magic today is May 30th it will be May 31st 2024 it’s almost June that’s finals that’s NBA draft a lot to get to as we count down to free agency my name is Philip rosik I’m the senior writer over at orlandomagic daily.com you find me on Twitter at Philip R rore on today’s episode of lock on Magic we’re going to make the case for and against signing tus Jones a really popular popular free agent Choice among magic fans will talk why he’s so popular and why maybe you should be a little bit concerned why he may not fit the bill for the magic we’ll get to all that plus kind of what tus Jones represents on how fast the magic are moving we’re going to get to that coming up here in just a moment but first we want to thank you again for making lock on Magic part of your day every day no matter when you listen to us whether it’s first in the morning whether it’s right when we upload we truly appreciate you making lock on Magic part of your day every day remember there’s a great lockon podcast covering every single team in the NBA just search for locked on and the team you’re looking for the lockon podcast Network it’s your team every day today’s episode of lockdown magic is brought to you by prize picks the easiest and most exciting way to play Da fantasy sports go to prix.com locked onba news code all lowercase locked on NBA for a first deposit match of up to $100 so we’re spending a good chunk of our time with free agency focused on point guards um I I I I think I’m pretty on record about this um I think the biggest need for the Orlando Magic this off season is at guard they need to find a playmaking guard they need to find a shooter to p with Jaylen sugs and just give this team some space in fact Palo and Caro came out and said it about it on the show uh last week um came out and said it that what he envisions for this magic off magic team and I think he trust the front office at this point to go out and get it is to find this team a table setter someone who is go not necessarily going to take over the ball or take the ball completely out of poo B Caro’s hands but someone who is going to be able to just get everyone in the right spots get the ball to Pao get the ball to fron in spots where they can score and just be someone who can space that floor for them and so as we looked at this point guard market and and I think we’ll dive a little bit deeper into point guards and what the magic are looking for here as we just make this discussion as we get you know probably we’ll probably do an episode on that next week um really we’re not looking for a pound the dirt point guard we’re not looking for a heavy usage point guard we’re looking for a guard that can play Meek get downhill a little bit force some action kick out make open threes you know the same things we’re expecting from every player on this roster to be able to do a little bit of everything and so yes it is easy to fall in love with the Stars and I think that’s G to be the big theme about this episode is it’s easy to get enamored with the big names and the numbers Paul George Klay Thompson you know those names de Murray it’s easy to get enamored with those players but really what the magic need is consistency they need someone that’s going to keep things steady and keep this team steady enter tus Jones of the Washington Wizards tus Jones had a really solid season in his first year as a starter in the with the Washington Wizards in their high-paced offense they were number one in the league in pace so takes some numbers with grains of salt he averaged 12 points 12 points per game 7.3 assists per game with just one turnover per game um as I would mention here as well probably the biggest thing the match need to get better at is they need to turn the ball over less they at a 15% turnover rate bottom five in the league something they got you know they were able to succeed despite their turnover issues on top of all this despite uh despite You know despite all that uh Jones was an excellent three-point shooter hitting 41.4% of his threats and 42.2% on catch and threes according to data from second Spectrum if you are thinking where is a point guard who accurate who who actively sets the table where is a point guard who doesn’t require the ball but can still be an excellent player off of others where is someone that is a consumate teammate to to average seven assists per game with just one turnover that says a lot tus Jones is that guy and while he is not the big name that an Anthony Simons is or d’angel Russell he’s not going to be able to maybe score and give you a 20 25o game with the same regularity as those two players mind tus Jones is consistency he did it in Memphis he scaled up in Washington granted fast pace so counting stats have to be taken with grain of salt a little bit but he did that he did that all and he showed he can be a starter in this league tus Jones worked and especially in a fast-pace offense where there is more opportunity for turnovers to have a seven to1 assisted turnover rate is insane that is efficiency and that is something that the magic should absolutely want they were 26 in the league in turnover rate bottom five in the league in turnover rate last year poo Bano turn the ball over a ton average about four turnovers per game had the 15 turnovers in games one and game two Pao understands you don’t want to take away all decision- making from him but he needs to have the ball in his hands less or have the ball in places where he can better take advantage of his decision decision- making rather than constantly seeing a wall of Defenders while already using up his drip getting rid of these turnovers is critical and this isn’t just some flash in the pan he didn’t just have one good turnover year he had an 88.8% turnover rate overall last year it was his third straight season with a turnover rate of less than 10% so if you’re looking for your like table setter like a Mike Conley type we can see how important he is he he has been for Minnesota this year if you’re looking for a Mike connley type who’s going to set the table get you into your offense make smart decisions and then hit an open three when given the opportunity that’s who tus Jones is he’s coming off a career best season he’s averaged at least seven assists per 36 minutes in all but two of his nine NBA Seasons he averaged nine assists per 36 minutes last year so again seven assists per game 7.3 assists per game you think that’s just a minute increase it’s not he’s been this good and the Wizards scored a lot off of those assists he was in the 88th percentile according to our friends at basketball index with a plus 4.25 roll adjusted assist per 75 sessions essentially meaning Jones creates a little more than four extra points off assists per 75 positions than you would expect for a player in his role it’s Washington I get it and we’re going to talk a little bit here in a minute about why we should take some grains of salt with it being Washington but the Wizards were a better offensive team with tus Jones on the floor and in even in an environment that was no offense St friends at lock on Wizards incredibly selfish Jordan pool Kyle kosma were a mess and it was expected that they were going to be a mess um tus Jones made them better he functioned clearly at an above average rate and so the question is can this translate into something that works in Orlando in a more serious environment tus Jones has played on a good team before he played for the Memphis Grizzlies um coming off the bench was a solid six man everyone was eagerly anticipating him getting the chance to start and we know what he can do the three-point shooting the passing the low turnovers the efficiency that’s almost exactly what the magic need like this is almost exactly what we’re looking for you know you could sell me on tus Jones and maybe I’m selling you on tus Jones and I’m about to rip the rug out from on year here in a minute um but but I’m thinking of the kind of point guard the magic need it’s a guy like tus Jones someone who will set the table make an open three make life easier for his teammates but still stay out of the way so we continue to let fron vogner and Palo banko explore their canvas and continue to explore the bounds of what they’re capable of doing tus Jones is that solid of a veteran player and a veteran player is important in this too but I’ve said this throughout the course of the offseason there is no perfect player there is no perfect option for this magic team there are questions about every stage of the Magic’s development and growth or every every potential player that the magic are chasing unfortunately tus Jones does have some pretty big question marks as perfect as he might seem on offense we’re g to get to the case against tus Jones coming up here in just a moment but first it’s time for quick word for our friends over at prize picks prize pick is America’s number one fantasy sports app with more than three million members it’s the easiest and most exciting way to get in on the action while you watch your favorite sports and players you just pick more or less on two or more player stats and watch the winnings roll in get in on the playoff action when up to a 100 times your money on price picks as you and the world’s best players take the game to a new level during the playoffs you can now win up to 100 times your money on price picks with as little as four correct picks turning $10 into a thousand with basketball hockey and so much more available on America’s number one fantasy 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you’re like me you work from home you work remote you’re listening to sports whether it’s on podcast or on TV get the best sports information on the biggest stories in sports from local experts like me that’s where the locked on sports today 247 streaming Channel comes in if you want the Lowdown on the Western Conference Finals locked on Mavericks and locked on Timber rols will be streamed throughout the day on locked on sports day along with all the top sports stories in the world the best part is you don’t get the shouting you don’t get the hot takes you get expert analysis and opinions from people who cover their teams every single day that is the power of the lockon podcast Network you can check it out streaming 247 on YouTube or the free Amazon Fire TV channels app part of the lockon podcast Network your team every day so you probably heard all that stuff about tus Jones offense and say oh that is great that’s exactly what the magic needed it sounds too good to be true and look I’m gonna sit here and say this unless Boston’s willing to trade Derek white there really is if Dereck white is like what I’m looking for I I want to be on record on that Derek I I want to find the closest thing I can to Derrick White Boston is not letting Derrick White go um but Dereck white is kind of what I’m thinking what the magic needed point guard um that’s not that’s not happening so you’re you’re you know a lot of this summer is about figuring out what are you willing to compromise on a little bit um what you feel like you can teach an incoming player about your culture bringing them into your culture and what what is kind of the dividing line tus Jones gives a lot to this team offensively I’m not going to sit here and deny that he fits the bill offensively he does everything that I would hope for in a point guard for this team on offense the questions are going to come on defense and tus Jones is decidedly not anywhere close to the kind of defensive player and the kind of defensive profile that the magic are looking for he is 6 foot one he has a small guard he’s a little bit older so you got to be worried a little bit about Decline and all of his defensive numbers are not particularly strong he’s 6’1 196 so he’s you know strong he’s going to be able to take a hit but he is on the small side did average about a steal per game but he’s not overly disruptive he he doesn’t get a lot of deflections and the defensive numbers just don’t look that good now let’s put a caveat on a lot of this the Wizards were one of the worst defensive teams in the league they they were a bad defensive team and obviously tus Jones is playing on the starting as a starter on the worst defensive team in the league but even if you take that information League Wars 11 18.9 defensive rating even if you take that information the Wizards had a team worst 122.5 defensive reing with Jones on the floor they were they were more than three points per 100 possessions worse defensively than their League worst average with Jones on the for obviously there’s got to be someone that’s worse and a lot of their starters are on on that on that that that range so okay maybe that’s just the Wizard’s thing but let’s talk about his time with the Grizzlies in the 2023 season coming off the bench for Memphis the Grizzlies had a 111.6 defensive rating with Jones on the floor but a 11.7 defensive rating overall so look Jones can be part of good defensive teams but he’s not going to make your defense better and is he as bad as he was with the Wizards probably not that is a bad defensive culture Memphis a better defensive culture maybe you could make up for it a little bit here but let’s dive a little bit deeper into those numbers last year according to nba.com tracking data opponent shot 52.9% with Jones as the closest Defender as marked as the defender that was seven percentage points better than expected teams shot better going up against Jones and at the end of the day what we’re thinking about with the magic at the end of the day what we’re worried about with the magic is are they going to be able to play in the playoffs if tus Jones gets played off the floor in the playoffs that’s not a four-year you know $80 million investment whatever the number is going to end up being um he’s G to get more than 80 80 total um that’s not a four-year deal that’s not a four-year investment it it’s a stop that that makes tus Jones something of a stop Gap point guard maybe that’s what the magic are looking for maybe they just want to fix the offense get proof of concept about the offense but you don’t have a you know you’re starting to run out of years to waste you got to start competing and obviously this is the summer to spend we made that very very clear this is the summer to spend the other concern is that while he gives you a lot of offensive gifts and I think he would have a big impact on the Magic’s offense just because of his shooting and floor spacing statistically Jones has not had a humongously positive offensive effect despite how strong he’s been as a shooter how strong he is as a passer how strong he is on turnovers Jones didn’t really meaningfully make the Wizards better the Wizards were a little bit worse offensively than the magic last year so as good as tus Jones was the Wizards were still a bad offensive team a lot of their numbers are coming because of their Pace they they played at the fat the most possessions in the league the Wizards had a 110.2 offensive rating overall but only 11.6 with Jones on the floor so a little bit better but not enough to make us say oh tus Jones is the reason their offense functions like when I look at these kind of onoff net ratings what I’m really looking for is okay if it’s significantly over the average that tells us either this player is having a massive effect or the lineup are having a massive effect obviously it’s the Wizards the Wizards were not good so you take everything kind of compared to everyone else with the Wizards he’s not meaningfully making that offense any better that’s what that tells me let’s take it back to the Grizzlies then in 2023 the Grizzlies had a 11 14.7 offensive rating overall but only 13.6 with Jones on the floor now some of that might be John Morant is really freaking good and he elevates that team’s offense in a way that that tus Jones can certainly 1136 is something the magic would kill for uh if you know if if he if he has a 1136 offensive rating and a 1107 uh a 116 defensive rating when he’s on the floor that’s a positive two two points per R possessions it’s about maybe 45 46 wins um that’s gonna that that’ll be okay for the magic um you know I think they want to aim a little higher is is I think where we’re getting at and look you know we could do that we could do that statistical analysis with Simons it’s probably going to come out the same so maybe this isn’t a concern but we do have to think about okay coming from a bad Wizards team how do we what do we count as real and what do we count as they played a ridiculous fast pace they played ridiculous number of possessions number one in the league again uh and they’re just racking up counting stats without actually impacting winning that’s really what matters is does this impact winning and that’s to me the ultimate question about tus Jones to me that’s ultimately where we come down on and look I’m not going to sit here and make conclusions um you know I think you want me to do that I I’m I don’t know who the magic should Target quite yet uh I wake up some days and I think d’angel Russell is the answer like a kind of a a more tur over prone but souped up version of of uh tyus Jones some days I think look go get Anthony Simons young young kid you know you could still groom him a little bit defensively uh never he’s never been asked to play defense in his life um but again you I I would say I would say this honestly like I do think the magic need a more elevated offensive player um in case Jaylen Suggs is your kind of 12 to 15 Point per night guy like like let’s let’s let’s put the profile this way Paulo and frons are going to get 20 20 night each Pao you hope it’s going to get to 25 fron you Hope’s going to get to 20 Jaylen Sugg’s probably going to be that 12 to 14 range some nights will get you 20 some nights you w I think you need another 15 to 18 point per game guy and I think that you need a guy that on some occasions will get you 30 you need a third 30 point score and maybe that’s still Jaylen sucks and so ultimately when it comes to a player like tus Jones you’re really asking the question what do the magic actually need how fast do the magic actually need to move what risks can they take Ty stones to be is a very safe choice but is he gonna actually Elevate this team and that gets to the heart of the big question this offseason we’re going to talk about that coming up here in just a moment so we closed that last segment kind of wondering if tus Jones is the answer if a player like tus Jones who checks a lot of box this is just really solid in a lot of areas but may be weak in one of the more important areas whether that is the direction the magic should go and and want to go you know we talked with Keith Smith uh earlier in the week about this and you know he said on our second episode this feels like the kind of Summer of the magic aren’t going to go all in on anybody so you know we all saw the Trey Young video Jaylen Suggs working out in Dallas Trey young was there they you know jayen re posted an inag something on Instagram we all saw it these guys are all friends let let you know whatever um but it it doesn’t feel likely to me that the magic are going to push those chips in to get like a third star or a more established third star let’s put it that way I think they are looking for that kind of a player but this is you know this is the question that Jeff wman has to ask himself clearly the magic are close clearly clearly the magic are cooking with some fire like it’s like things are are heating up we can you know the chemistry of cooking is happening um and we saw last year how good this team can be we saw last year what this team is capable of doing no doubt about it now we have to ask now we have to figure out okay how fast can this team go how like what areas are we willing to Tinker with now I would argue the magic are not willing to Tinker with poo banero and fron Vagner are our two guys so if you are a more established veteran star who’s going to demand the ball and demand shots and take away some of these decision M you know take away kind of the leadership of Pao and fron I’m not interested in that so like I’m out on Trey young I’m out on I’m even out on Deonte Murray to be perfectly honest I’m out on Klay Thompson I’m out on Paul George Klay Thompson a little less lesson but I’m out on him for other reasons but the magic aren’t looking for leadership like they need guys who could support and give experience but they’re not looking for someone to challenge Paulo at the top of the mountain that was the mistake Cleveland made Cleveland it seemed had this young roster threw in Donan Mitchell into the mix and all of a sudden the pecking order completely changed and you know I’ve even seen some reporting and and some some think pieces saying this is you know Brian wers I think said it Don Mitchell is running the Cleveland Cavaliers right now the magic don’t want that smoke they don’t want that Pao is the guy fron is the robin or the one a whatever 1B whatever you want to call it those are your guys so now it’s been about supporting them and so how best do you support those players where does jayen Suggs fit into this and that is ultimately some of the questions the magic have to start answering or tinkering with look Jaylen Suggs is the heart and soul of this defense no one is supplanting him on that front but if you bring in an Anthony Simons does sugs brista getting fewer shots at you know it feels like it feels like he understands what his offensive role should be and he did a very good job tempering and controlling some of his worst instincts from his first two years but do the magic want to see that re-expand now that he’s established himself again and then the ultimate question should be is a player like tus Jones enough to get you to the next level to get you to the next step nothing risk nothing gained you know you know you you’ve got to take a risk here you’ve got to make a bet on adding something or someone to the roster and tyus Jones is a very safe player you know what you’re getting with him you know you’re getting XYZ and whether you’re going after Malik monk who I can’t believe I haven’t mentioned yet Malik monk Anthony Simon dejonte Murray whoever it is Malcolm Brogden Malcolm Brogden and Ty shs I think are in the safe the really safe category is the Magic’s appetite of for risk there to say okay we need we don’t just need a table setter we need another guy who can get us 30 who can get hot who can play you know at a star level for a week when guys are hurt in the middle of January if that’s what the magic need then tus Jones ain’t it and tyus Jones is not the speed the magic moving the magic are moving at a much faster pace in that in that regard but if the magic are if the magic truly believe look we were in a game seven we were a half away from advancing to the second round we were a bad week A random fron vogner injury away from being the three seed we were inexperienced in games one and two away from winning our series anyway if that is how the magic truly feel and all they really feel they need is calm composure and a veteran tus Jones is your guy that’s the speed the magic are going to move at I get the feeling the magic want to move a little faster I get the feeling that tus jones’ shortcomings ultimately ultimately that’s not the risk the magic want to take this off season is about moderation in my opinion is about understanding where you’re at and still giving and adding to it but still giving it room to grow but it’s also about risk management it’s also about understanding the bets you’re willing to make with this roster and then making and executing those bets and seeing where the cards fall it’s a big offseason no doubt about it and tus if the magic do end up signing tus Jones it’ll be a good signing like I I’m not against it like I I’m coming out I’m coming out against it and saying I don’t think it’s what the magic should do but I not against it it is he is a good player a solid player who will help this team but it may not be the kind of aggressive move the magic need to take to elevate this group one step further as we’ve said this a million times as this team has ran the roster back over and over again there is no standing still in the NBA you’re either moving forward or moving backward and it’s not that the magic have to sell out to keep their spot but they need to be aggressive to steal someone else’s and that’s really what’s at stake this offseason I want to thank you all again for listening to today’s episode of Locked on Magic course find me on Twitter at Philip rore OMD subscribe to podcast and apple podcast you’re tuned in him Google play Spotify on Odyssey and all fation podcast to your podcast enabled listing device you can check us out on YouTube to search for lockon Magic we’re closing in on 3,000 subscribers so I thank you all for subscribing on YouTube if you haven’t done so already please do so it helps us out a ton for the latest on the Orlando Magic be sure to check out Orlando magic.com you can find us there on Twitter om Magic daily I have coming up tomorrow three players who lost the most uh in the playoffs so you’ll be able to check that out I think two of the picks are obvious I think I made a surprise pick on one of them but I but we’ll see what you think we’ll probably talk a little bit about that to uh next week we’re going to talk about fron vogner next week we’re going to get into all fron voger things at some point next week um as well I also want to announce and say uh I’ve been approached by a few people kind of walking out and about in Orlando I really appreciate everyone who listens to the show and everyone who um sees me out in public and says hey I listen I really do appreciate all of you um I do have goodies coming coming to you if you do find me I have these wonderful stickers if you’re watching on the YouTube with the locked on Magic logo I will be carrying a few in my wallet at all times times until they run out and I have to order more um but if you see me come up say hi really do appreciate all all of you I do this for you guys I really do um so I appreciate everyone who listens and I’m gonna try and give some of that love back um met some people in Cleveland for games one and two during games games one and two I saw some people yeah saw someone at Epcot a few weeks ago um took a photo with them uh uh really you know really really always excited to meet to meet you meet you all and uh and really really you know want to share some love back so if you do see me come say hi I promise I don’t fight and I’m usually not super duper busy um so if you see me around come come say hi uh as as well um like I said next week we’re GNA get we’re g to kind of reset ourselves a little bit I’m gonna hope to have guests at some point next week but uh we will do NBA Finals preview talk a little bit about what we’re learning from the Conference Finals uh in in Monday’s episode we’ll get to draft Tuesday again on Tuesday we’ll do another uh case four and against with 38 Ag and whatever other you know we’ll talk France vogner so our show our week is already pretty busy busy next week but we’ll see what else pops up and comes out through the woodwork as well now that you’re done listening to us be sure check out the lock on sports day 247 streaming Channel on YouTube and now available on Amazon Fire TV in the free Fire TV channels app lockon Sports stays here for you 247 covering the top sports stories of the day with the local Experts of lockon plus our national shows covering every week find lockon sports today now available on the free Fire TV channels app that’s good do it for me that’s going to do it for May we’re in June draft time is here um we’ll get to so much over the next month as we get ready for the draft as we get ready for a free agency as we get through the NBA Finals lots to get to as always have a great weekend everyone for Orlando Magic daily lockon magic this been Philip rosik we’ll see you again next time for another episode of lockon magic

The Orlando Magic are seeking a point guard to help balance the team and set the table for their young stars. Many fans have turned to Tyus Jones to help fill that gap. He brings a lot of the offensive skills — outside shooting, creation, low turnovers and efficiency — the Magic need. But is he the right free agent for the Magic to target?

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