
Four years ago, in the downstairs portion of the 508 Bar and Restaurant and just an outlet pass away from Target Center, Flip Saunders embraced his new point guard, Tyus Jones.
Saunders used some colorful language as he implored Jones to play his butt off because of all the work Saunders had done to acquire him that night, trading two second-round picks in that 2015 draft and a future second-round pick to Cleveland to nab Jones with the No. 24 overall pick in the first round. Paired with No. 1 overall pick Karl-Anthony Towns, Jones gave Wolves fans a night to celebrate and remember.
Flip, a former point guard himself, was not shy in his praise for Jones. He said that night: "He'll get you into an offense, and he's a natural leader. Some guys have the ability to know how the game is played and the tempo of the game. And he never seems to get rattled. The bigger the stage, the better he plays."
What seemed like a perfect fit in many ways — the hometown kid from Apple Valley returning home after winning an NCAA title at Duke — gave way instead to four seasons that were far from it.
Jones' time in Minnesota started with tragedy, when four months after that draft Hodgkin's lymphoma took Saunders' life. There were a million reasons to mourn Flip's passing from a personal standpoint; from a basketball standpoint, it meant his vision of what Jones could be was never realized.
In four seasons with the Wolves — the last three beginning with Tom Thibodeau as head coach — Jones played 247 games, starting 34. His high IQ, pass-first skill set always seemed better suited to a role as a starter, but his level of play and conventional wisdom relegated him to a role as a backup who could start in case of injury.
From Flip to Thibs and now to Flip's son Ryan (under new basketball boss Gersson Rosas), the question remained: What exactly was Jones' role and place in the NBA?
That question leads us to Sunday night, when our Chris Hine and others reported that Jones will sign a three-year, $28 million offer sheet with Memphis as a restricted free agent. The Wolves have two days to match the offer, but if you read the tea leaves and look at the Wolves' salary cap that seems like a less than likely proposition.