There's no doubt about it, the Phoenix Suns landing Tyus Jones on a one year, prove it deal for the veteran's minimum was a master stroke. The organization managing to land a player they really had no right being in the conversastion to sign.
The addition of Jones is an exciting one - although it does come with some tough questions that need to be answered - and it absolutely makes the Suns better. Alongside Monte Morris, who will now go in as his backup, the franchise has all of a sudden remedied a real weakness that existed on their roster last season.
This get is made all the sweeter, by the fact Jones turned down a perfect fit elsewhere to head to The Valley.
That's because according to John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports and the "Burns & Gambo" show, Jones turned down the opportunity to head back to the Memphiz Grizzlies. The franchise where he made his name as perhaps the best backup point guard in the entire NBA.
Jones chose the Suns and less money over Atlanta and Memphis
— John Gambadoro (@Gambo987) July 27, 2024
Turning down the Grizzlies is significant, because Jones is familiar with the team and could have had a bigger role there. They currently have guys like Marcus Smart and Derrick Rose who have struggled for form and consistency, while superstar Ja Morant just can't get out of his own way sometimes.
With Jones having averaged 12 points and over seven assists as a starter for the Washington Wizards last season, he would have had a strong case to go back to Memphis and have a bigger part to play than he will in Phoenix. The idea of him starting for the Suns is an intriguing one, but like it or not he is really going to struggle to dislodge Bradley Beal from the rotation. Devin Booker? Come on.
The Atlanta Hawks is less appealing only because he's never played there before, although they did move on from Dejounte Murray this summer. A pairing of Jones and Trae Young would have been incredibly undersized though, and this just wouldn't have been a nice fit.
The Grizzlies would have also represented a chance for Jones to both sign for more money and potentially more years. If that didn't happen, then the prospect of them inking him to another long-term deal after next season also would have been much higher than with the Suns, where right now it has zero chance of happening.
They're heavily in the second apron and can't even think about bringing Jones back beyond 2024-25, which is another reason it is a real win that he chose them. Next season will be an audition for him, yet he'll be entering a situation where he's unlikely to close games. Doing that for a team that also can't bring you back adds even more risk, whereas Memphis would have been a more simply choice.
This also means that players around the league still feel like the Suns are closer to contention than they showed last season, and the prospect of playing with Booker, Beal and Kevin Durant is surely a cool one. Nevertheless, this makes the job the front office has done so far this summer even more impressive.