Tyus Jones is hurting the Phoenix Suns in a major way

There is no doubt that point guard Tyus Jones has been one of the best players for the Phoenix Suns so far this season. So good in fact, that we ranked him fourth on the list of best players for the franchise in 2024, despite only joining in the offseason.

With the Suns not having a floor general last season - instead asking Devin Booker and Bradley Beal to split the duties - securing one of the best backup point guards in the league on a minimum contract was a master stroke by the front office. He's helped limit the turnovers in The Valley, while also bringing order to offensive sets when the game slows down.

Yet Jones is really hurting this team is a huge area of importance.

It doesn't take a genius to figure out that a starting trio of Jones, Booker and Beal is not going to be very good defensively. This despite Booker being above average and Beal to this point being as good a defender as we've seen him be since landing in Phoenix. Jones is undersized even for the lead guard position, while the three of them together cannot contain elite wing scoring players.

It is one of the reasons swapping Beal for the 35-year-old Jimmy Butler looks so appealing, because he fits better alongside Jones and Booker. As it is both Beal and Booker are too similar in how they play offensively, but that is a conversation for another day. Add the lumbering center Jusuf Nurkic to the mix, and it is easy to see why the Suns rank 22nd in defensive rating so far this season.

They're allowing opponents to hang 115 points on them on average each game, and that number somehow gets worse when Jones is on the court. It then slips to 115.9, and the last 10 games in particular do not make for pretty viewing. During this period Booker, Beal and Nurkic have all missed time for one reason or another.

Jones on the other hand has appeared in every contest - and while that consistency itself is welcome - the Suns have given up 116.6 points per game (26th) during that time span. It might seem harsh to pin that number on Jones alone - but if you've watched him out there during this period - then you'll know it is largely warranted.

You need only look at the image at the top of the page here to see the serious drawback to having Jones on the court so much. He was one of the best backups in the league prior to joining the Washington Wizards last season for a reason, and that is because he will get targeted by opponents when out there for long periods.

Which is what Christian Braun of the Denver Nuggets - like so many before him this season - have done when matched up against Jones. The Suns can't hide him defensively either, as Nurkic doesn't give them the protection they need in the paint to cover up mistakes on rotations and both Booker and Beal are dealing with tougher assignments themselves anyway.

To make matters worse, the Suns also have a worse offensive rating (111.1) when Jones is out there, compared to the 10th place ranking on the season as a whole (113.2). Which has led to the player having a net rating of minus 4.9 - and while that number can be misleading at times and a lazy way to target somebody - the defensive liability that Jones is for this group makes it hard to ignore.

Interestingly the Suns may actually have a solution to this problem, and it comes in the form of backup point guard Monte Morris. Surprisingly he has a better offensive rating than Jones currently (112.8), and this is despite playing more frequently with the second unit. Defensively however - and thanks to his larger and more stout frame - he could be a real help as the season progresses.

That's because the Suns have a defensive rating of 107.2 when Morris is out there, which would be good for the fourth best mark in the entire league. Other factors are at play here, including playing against bench units and having Ryan Dunn, Josh Okogie and Oso Ighodaro out there frequently to drape themselves on bigger players, but it is not nothing.

It remains to be seen if head coach Mike Budenholzer will give Morris more run in favor of Jones, but something has to give here. If the organization aren't going to make any major trades - and that seems unlikely given they're in the second apron - then they need to find a solution for Jones being targeted on the defensive end. The much less used Morris could just be the answer.