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2015 NBA Summer League: Tyus Jones Cashed in his Draft Stock and hit the Jackpot

By James Fitzgerald

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If there are any youngsters out there that need to see a prime example of how to cash out on your draft stock and win big in the NBA Draft, please refer to Tyus Jones. Keep in mind that Jones’ story is the exception and not the rule.

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When Tyus Jones left college you did not get that “what the heck is he doing” feeling like when Syracuse’s Tyler Ennis left school early in 2014.

When Jones decided to declare for the professional ranks he did it at the right time with his stock arrow flashing green and pointing way up.

During ACC play, he showed that he would not disappear in big games. He had 17 points on the road at Virginia, 22 points, seven rebounds, and eight assists against North Carolina in Cameron Indoor Stadium, then went to Chapel Hill and hit the Tar Heels with 24 points, six rebounds and seven assists.

During the NCAA tournament he continued to play strong. From the Sweet 16 on he averaged 15.5 points and shot 43.2 percent from three-point range.

In the National Final game, Jones had his best performance hitting 7 of 13 shots from the field and 5 of 10 from downtown en route to scoring 23 points and being named the 2015 Final Four’s Most Outstanding Player.

(Photo: Robert Deutsch, USA TODAY Sports)

He came into the College Ranks as the No. 7 High School prospect according to 247 sports, so when Jones left, he had maxed out his stock early and accomplished a lot in the space of a season.

Then to put the icing on the cake, Jones cashes out and goes into the draft, he is drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers and then shipped to the Minnesota Timberwolves in a deal.

Minnesota is a dream job for him since he was named “Minnesota Mr. Basketball” for 2014 and led Apple Valley High School to a Minnesota State Championship in 2013.

All of his greatest hoop accomplishments previous to hooking up with Coach K at Duke happened in his home state of Minnesota.

Now that is called maximizing your stock!

Jones is now trying to work things out in the 2015 NBA Summer League. He is quickly finding out that the NBA game is a tad bit more difficult than college was for him.

He is currently averaging 6.7 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.3 assists while shooting 33% from the field in 22 minutes of work.

There have been times where it looks like the speed of the NBA style game has caught him off guard, but in the end he is holding his own.

The plan for Tyus Jones is to get his skills up so that he can eventually take over the point guard duties from Ricky Rubio, or at least be an adequate backup to Zach LaVine if the Timberwolves decide to trade Rubio at some point and go with LaVine in the future.

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    • The one thing that we know from watching Jones at Duke is that he can knock down an outside shot, something that Rubio has continually had a hard time doing.

    Tyus Jones should also be a huge local draw for Minnesota fans with the young nucleus they have collected.

    It has to be a good feeling for fans to see the local boy who made good play with “Rookie of the Year”Andrew Wiggins, highlight waiting to happen Zach LaVine, and a future star big man in Karl-Anthony Towns.

    But this is how you hit the lottery on your draft stock without being a lottery pick.

    Now don’t forget, Jones’ story is the exception and not the rule, that has to be reiterated. But it is a good story nonetheless.

    In a perfect world Tyus Jones would still be in college improving his game, but this is one of those times where a player making good on his perception makes sense.

    Most of these kids should stay in school unless their draft stock is going to guarantee them the lottery, or the ideal playing situation like in the case of Tyus Jones.

    As good as things are looking for Jones right now, he still has a lot of work to do. But he has youth on his side and plenty of time to improve.

    Next: Gonzaga Bulldogs: Making Sense of Their Frontcourt Defense

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