Minnesota Timberwolves: Ex-players who’d be welcomed back

4. Tyus Jones (2015-19)

Sometimes, the most recent breakup hurts the worst.

But again, back to basketball.

Tyus Jones is the most recent player to make an exit from the Minnesota Timberwolves, going to the Memphis Grizzlies during the 2019 free agency. At the beginning of July, it all seemed so simple.

The Timberwolves had extended a qualifying offer to Jones, making him a restricted free agent, there weren’t a ton of teams with rumors that they were trying to acquire him, and besides, Jones is a Minnesota boy. That means he’ll definitely stay, right?

Wrong.

Memphis extended an offer of three years and $26.4 million, which the Timberwolves were not expected to match and they didn’t.

The worst part is that Tyus Jones was showing huge signs of improvement. He averaged 6.9 points, 4.8 assists, 2.0 rebounds, and 1.2 steals per game on an average of 22.9 minutes per game, all of which were career-highs for him.

During one stretch of five games in March, of which he started twice, Jones averaged around 10.0 points, 5.0 assists, and 1.0 steals per game while he was shooting around the 50 percent mark from both the field and from 3.

To most teams, that would have been enough to keep him on for an average of $8.8 million a year, especially with Karl-Anthony Towns‘ and Andrew Wiggins‘ contracts expiring soon, but the Timberwolves are not most teams and they let him go.