Tyus Jones was named the Summer League MVP, following in the glorious footsteps of Las Vegas legends such as Josh Selby and Glen Rice Jr. But can the diminutive floor general carve out a material role in the Minnesota Timberwolves’ rotation?
By all accounts, Kris Dunn was the most impressive player in the NBA Las Vegas Summer League this year.
In the two games he participated in, he showed glimpses of why he was picked fifth overall in the 2016 NBA Draft — most notably, showcasing his elite body control, length for his position and bulldog demeanor everytime he stepped foot on the floor.
But, Summer League play is a mercurial phenomenon. On the one hand, the contests usually dissipate into glorified pickup games. On the other, the players are often going hard, trying to earn a job either in the NBA or overseas.
As a result, we experience some real eyesores at times, with teams shooting in the mid-to-high 30s in field goal percentage. However, while the games may not be the most visually appealing masterpieces, we are all the more excited to see how our team’s respective prospects do.
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For Minnesota Timberwolves fans, it was certainly a delight to see Dunn excel; but, while he became the talk of Vegas, the team struggled to find its footing.
Of course, in classic Summer League fashion, as the Wolves brass decided to sit Dunn for the rest of Summer League (for concussion protocol purposes), Minnesota suddenly became an absolute juggernaut.
Led by their diminutive second-year lead guard, Tyus Jones, the Wolves went on a miraculous run as “the 24th seed,” battling all the way to the Summer League finals before falling to the Chicago Bulls in the championship game.
Even though Minnesota had lost its inaugural chance at a championship as a franchise, Jones really showed out when given the opportunity for a larger role.
He was so good in the waning games of the tournament, that he was prematurely named Summer League MVP before the final game commenced, averaging 21.2 points and 7.2 assists per game on 46.6 percent shooting from the field and 43.3 percent shooting from beyond the arc (after Dunn went down in Game 2).
Although the stats and accolades are nice, we’ve seen previous dominant Summer League performances by the likes of Josh Selby and Glen Rice Jr. fall by the wayside as soon the regular season began.
Jones, however, showed some real, material progress in his Summer League play.
Not only was he scorching from the land of the great beyond — where most of his attempts were of the pull-up variety when the opposing defender opted to go under on the screen-and-roll — Tyus was also much more adept at getting to the rim and drawing an inordinate amount of fouls, an aspect he really struggled with as a rookie.
Dunking with Wolves
Full disclosure though, a lot of his said forays to the basket were off of secondary break opportunities against a scrambling defense, as the Wolves made a concerted effort to push the ball up the court off of makes and misses this Summer League.
Jones will always be a liability on defense due to his middling size, but you could see improvements on that end as well, especially in his ability to fight valiantly over screens.
So, what does his MVP performance mean going forward?
On paper, the Wolves suddenly have an embarrassment of riches at the point guard position, with Ricky Rubio, Dunn and Jones all fighting for minutes.
But with Dunn’s size and Rubio’s defensive prowess, expect Tom Thibodeau to experiment with a lot of two-guard alignments to begin the season — much like how he did with the Chicago Bulls, often pairing a diminutive point (take your choice of Nate Robinson, D.J. Augustin or John Lucas III) with Thibs’ cult favorite, Kirk Hinrich.
However, according to sources with close ties to the organization, changes may be coming sooner rather than later.
#Twolves FO had another personnel meeting today. Bottom-line: the current 15 isn't the 15 they envision in a few months. Wing, PG = targets.
— Darren Wolfson (@DWolfsonKSTP) July 20, 2016
With Jones’ impressive performance, his stock as a trade chip is at an all-time high. If you’re going to sell, it is best to sell high.
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In the event that all three of Rubio, Dunn and Tyus Jones are still on the Minnesota Timberwolves’ roster on opening night, though, expect the hometown underdog to be in the rotation — he was just too good, and too clutch not to be.