Suns' player who backed himself sees plans backfire spectacularly

Without doubt one of the best free agent signings of last summer was the Phoenix Suns convincing Tyus Jones to come and play for them on a minimum contract. The team needed a point guard, and Jones needed a bigger platform on which to showcase his excellent floor general skills.

Prior to signing with Phoenix he had been one of the best backups in the league, while with the Washington Wizards as a starter he had a career year in several key categories. Unfortunately for Jones however the Wizards are not essential viewing, while his time with the Memphis Grizzlies was overshadowed by the brilliance of Ja Morant.

Now the decision of Jones to join the Suns looks to have backfired.

On paper all of this made sense, and the marriage between the Suns and Jones got off to a brilliant start. He went straight into the starting lineup - a spot he has yet to relinquish - and with Bradley Beal again struggling with injuries emerged as a steady presence when the Suns needed him to be. To this point the 30 minutes he's averaged per night is the most of his career.

The silly turnovers lessened, while Jones helped the group get into their offensive sets quicker as well. When Beal went to the bench - as well as center Jusuf Nurkic not being used at all - the thought process was that Jones' life would become easier. Instead the opposite has happened, and it could impact his ability to get a long-term deal and as much money as he would have last summer.

That's because rather than Ryan Dunn and Nick Richards covering for the defensive inabilities of Jones - which they most certainly have - a spotlight has instead been shone on all of the things Jones cannot do. With Beal and Nurkic no longer around to take on the criticism, another scapegoat has been needed to try and explain the woes of this season.

Unfortunately for Jones, it is the fact he's an undersized guard with only so much in his bag offensively that has been selected. This despite the 41.7 percent he has shot from deep so far this season being another career high, while the 6.2 assists are the second best mark of his career.

Yet Jones is nowhere near the scorer that Beal is, and that has become more of a pressing issue since he went to the bench. Right now Dunn and Richards are combining for 18.5 points, with Beal alone sitting at 17.1. If he were put back into the starting lineup in place of Jones however, both the scoring but also the defensive rating could improve.

Beal has shown he can still hang with quicker guards on that end, while his bigger body type means he doesn't get bullied as easily as Jones either. Doing this would bring up the problem question of last season - when the Suns had no floor general and looked listless offensively - but putting the ball in Booker's hands more might just give him some of his swagger back. It has been sorely missed.

Right now the Suns rank 23rd in defensive rating, and give up 114.9 points per game. A number that basically holds true (115.0) when Jones is out on the court. This has to change, and playing him less while giving a combination of Beal and Monte Morris some more run might be the solution. Morris has struggled for a consistent role this season, but he is the better defender of the two.

But whereas prior to this season the feeling was that Jones would put himself in the shop window on a team that would be fighting for a top four spot in the Western Conference, the opposite has happened. Instead his very real flaws have been exposed on a roster that is nowhere near competing, and it could have major implications for his next contract.

Ironically it could be the Suns who profit in this scenario - as if nobody else is willing to give Jones what he wants - he may try to run it back for one more year to get one last big contract before turning 30. The list of undersized guards who improve after hitting their 30s is tiny, and Jones doesn't look like being an exception right now. This has not gone to plan for him at all.