Minnesota Timberwolves: 5 takeaways from 2017-18 NBA season

5. Tyus Jones needs a bigger role

Tom Thibodeau has a plethora of guards in the backcourt to work with heading into 2018-19. One thing he needs to take a hard look at is expanding Tyus Jones’ role in the rotation.

Jones averaged 5.1 points, 2.8 assists, 1.6 rebounds and 1.2 steals in 17.9 minutes per game during the regular season. Even more impressive, he appeared in all 82 games for the Minnesota Timberwolves. Though they’ve been limited, his results warrant a deeper look.

He posted an offensive rating of 111.8 and a defensive rating of 105.7 during the regular season. In the postseason, his offensive rating was 99.8 and his defensive rating was 97.2 in 13.7 minutes per contest. It’s a small sample size, but he’s one player to keep an eye on to break out in 2018-19.

Jones is a player with a winner’s mentality. After all, he was a national champion at Duke University in his lone season (2015) as a collegiate athlete alongside former No. 1 pick Jahlil Okafor. Since then, he’s been used sparingly in Minnesota, especially once Derrick Rose joined the team. That needs to change if the Wolves want to extend their backcourt depth next season.