How Tyus Jones impacts the rest of the Suns' starting lineup

It’s unusual that a minimum signing this late in free agency can have the kind of roster ramifications that Tyus Jones does for the Phoenix Suns, but Jones isn’t a normal minimum free agent. He is the most prominent casualty of the new CBA, forced to take a minimum to go to a contending team despite having a career-best season.

The Suns apparently offered him a starting gig to seal the deal, and that decision has massive implications for the rest of the starters.

The most obvious of which is the playmaking burden being lifted from the stars, especially Devin Booker. Booker may have excelled individually as “Point Book” this season, but the Suns have had their most success with him playing next to a true point guard, allowing him to focus on scoring. 

The Suns seemed to realize this as the season went on, shifting playmaking duties to Bradley Beal, but that’s not his preferred role either. The confusion over who should be the lead playmaker and the changing roles definitely contributed to the Suns’ inconsistent offense.

That won't be an issue anymore with Jones on the floor. After averaging 7 assists last season, Jones is primed to be a full-time, lead playmaker. Simply having everyone know their roles will do wonders for the offense. 

That wasn’t so much a problem for Kevin Durant, who's role on offense was consistent throughout the season and in line with the rest of his career. He wasn’t tasked with picking up the playmaking slack like the other two, but he definitely felt the absence of a point guard.

While still extremely efficient relative to the rest of the league, it was Durant's worst efficiency season in years. Everything seemed harder for him on offense as the team struggled to get him easy looks. Durant can make those tough, iso shots, but Jones will maximize Durant's catch-and-shoot ability.

Starting Jones doesn't come without some risks though. An already small starting lineup somehow becomes even smaller. Jones is 6'1 and not known for his defense. Booker or Beal will now have to guard forwards on a nightly basis. The Suns had looked primed to start either Royce O’Neale or Ryan Dunn, which would've moved KD to small forward, but now he’s locked into the four spot.

Durant was great in that role last year, but that wasn’t necessarily ideal for him or the Suns. He had to expend so much of his energy on defense acting as the primary rim protector to make up for Jusuf Nurkić’s deficiencies on that front.

Nurkić is also the one starter who Jones doesn’t fit with. Centers who act as hubs on offense are best suited playing next to combo guards, like Booker and Beal, who can play off ball. The fit with a true point guard is pretty abysmal.

Nurk will now spend many possessions not orchestrating the offense and, since he doesn’t do anything else on offense at a high level, that means he’s not contributing off ball or as a scorer. He’s also not an ideal pick and roll partner, further complicating the fit next to Jones.  

These issues are worrisome, but not enough to make the Jones signing anything but a steal. The offensive boost from finally having a point guard could very well be enough to outweigh the defensive issues the Suns will run into.

The fit with Nurkić is harder to see working out, but some creative staggering can place him with bench-heavy units where he can run the offense. Signing and starting Jones signals that the Suns don't see Nurk as vital to the starting lineup this year.

After last season's failure, their main goal is clearly to get the most out of their stars on offense. Starting Jones will certainly help them do that.