The entirety of the offseason discourse around the Minnesota Timberwolves is going to be about big swings. Should the Wolves trade Karl-Anthony Towns for a large haul of young players and draft picks? Should they dump Rudy Gobert for whatever they can get? Will they encourage Tim Connelly to take the Washington Wizards’ vacant GM job? Should they fire Chris Finch and clean house one more time to put Anthony Edwards in the best position to win now?
These are all fun ideas to plug into the trade machine. But these moves probably won’t happen this offseason, and likely wouldn’t make the Timberwolves any better next season. It is going to take some well-placed transactions around the margins and a full summer of team bonding to vault this team to contender status. With Towns and Gobert on max deals and Edwards and Jaden McDaniels eligible to ink lucrative rookie extensions this summer, the Wolves don’t have a ton of cap space to wheel and deal in free agency. However, they have the non-taxpayer midlevel exception and the bi-annual exception. And with that wiggle room, Minnesota must upgrade the backup point guard position this summer.
It’s always a sad day when it’s time to say goodbye to a fan-favorite journeyman player who gets played out of the rotation and eventually off the team. Jordan McLaughlin is that player this offseason. It was fun while it lasted. How could you not enjoy watching the undrafted point guard from USC over the last four years? But it became clear down the stretch and into the playoffs that McLaughlin isn’t the answer at backup point guard for a team with loftier goals than the play-in next season. JMac became a non-factor on the offensive end. He saw his three-point shooting percentage fall from just over 38 percent during his rookie year to under 31 percent this season. Meanwhile, his floater seemed to get slammed right back in his face more often than it went in.
This article isn’t meant to belittle McLaughlin. He was an admirable backup on a young team on the rise, and he’ll land on his feet if he gets released before his contract is guaranteed for the 2023-24 season on June 30th. Instead, it’s about finding the right player to back up Mike Conley, who will be 36 years old when the season begins in October.
This year’s crop of free agent point guards will be interesting to monitor. Kyrie Irving’s decision to re-sign in Dallas or leave another team in shambles with have a ripple effect across the league. The Wolves would have to trade Towns or Gobert to bring in Kyrie, which should get Connelly fired if he even brings it up. Aside from another blockbuster trade, one name that could be on the market jumps out as a perfect Timberwolves backup.
That name is familiar to Twin Cities basketball sickos. Tre Jones has come a long way since he was Tyus’ little brother coming out of Apple Valley. In 2020, the San Antonio Spurs drafted him in the second round after two solid years with Coach K at Duke. It took two years to get acclimated to life in the NBA, but Tre Jones finally took control of the Spurs offense after they dealt Dejounte Murray to the Atlanta Hawks. Yes, San Antonio only won 22 games this season and spent more of their time thinking about a 7’5” French teenager than they did their own team. But Jones blossomed into a reliable point guard whose team is better when he’s on the court.
The younger Jones brother averaged 12.9 points and 6.6 assists per game while starting in 65 of his 68 appearances this season. If you’re looking for a point guard who takes care of the ball, just pick a Jones. Tyus led the league again in assist-to-turnover ratio while Tre wasn’t far behind with more than four assists for every turnover he committed. He finished top 30 in the NBA in assist rate. At 6’3”, Tre has also proven to be at least a competent defender in the NBA and won Defensive Player of the Year in the ACC during his sophomore season in Durham.
Tre Jones’s contract could look a lot like what the Memphis Grizzlies gave his brother last offseason (two years, $29 million). The Wolves would prefer something a little cheaper and likely longer because Conley has one year remaining on his contract. A 4-year, $40 million offer could be enough to lure Tre Jones back home to the Twin Cities. However, two things stand in the way of his homecoming.
First, Tre Jones will just be a restricted free agent this offseason, meaning the Spurs can match any offer another team makes and retain Jones for next season. It would be a smart move for San Antonio to bring back their starting point guard to maintain some continuity with the high draft pick they bring in. However, a rebuilding team may not want to lock into a player likely to top out as a really good backup point guard.
The other issue is that Jones hasn’t shown any ability to hit an NBA three. He’s only shooting 27 percent from deep in his first three seasons and has only attempted 214 triples across his first 174 NBA games. Jones was inconsistent in college, shooting 26 percent as a freshman and improving to 36 percent during his COVID-shortened sophomore season at Duke. Still, it’s odd that he’s not a better outside shooter. He’s shown decent touch and form as a career 84 percent free-throw shooter.
It’s a big offseason for the Timberwolves. They have razor-thin margins to make a deep run in the next few seasons in the aftermath of the Gobert trade. Therefore, it’s imperative that they upgrade their backup point guard slot with an aging starter and dwindling bench production. Fortunately, the former Apple Valley star could fit in perfectly in his old stomping grounds if he’s available this summer. The Wolves will have other options in free agency, but Tre Jones provides everything Minnesota needs off the bench, as long as he practices his threes in the driveway this summer.
