Scouting Report: Tyus Jones

Tyus Jones is a point guard for the University of Duke. Jones is 6’1 with a wingspan of 6’3. For the year, Jones averaged 33.9 minutes per game, 11.8 points per game, 5.6 assists per game, 3.5 rebounds per game, 1.5 steals per game, 1.9 turnovers per game, while shooting 41.7% from the field, and 37.9% from three.

Pros: 

• Excellent court vision and feel for the game
• Creative and crafty with the ball
• Smart with the basketball
• Mature
• Good leader
• Looks to pass first, shoot second
• Good body control
• Good at drawing contact
• Excellent free throw shooter(88.2% for the year)
• Great pick-and-roll player
• Great touch around the basket
• Good floater
• Clutch shooter

Cons:

• Lacks the athleticism and quickness most point guards possess
• Needs to work on his jump shot’s efficiency
• Can be a streaky shooter, so consistency will need to be worked on
• Loses defensive focus on the perimeter
• Relies on help defense a lot
• Must add strength to get consistent minutes at the next level

Overall:

Jones is a true point guard, and very polished to say the least. He may not be as strong, athletic, or as quick as other traditional point guards, but what he does possess is a high basketball IQ and amazing instincts. On the offensive side of the ball, Jones is a pass first guy. Jones is always looking to get his teammates involved and is great at feeding the post. His smart, creative ball handling is great as he almost posts a 3:1 assist-to-turnover ratio. When scoring his needed, Jones is a great pick-and-roll man with the ability to drive to the hoop and draw contact or has the ability to pull up and hit a three. As shown in a couple of games when Duke was down, the ball was handed to Jones and he had the clutch factor to hit anything. You can not teach this instinct. Jones fears no one; he does not like the pressure get to him. With that all being said, Jones can be a streaky shooter and needs to become more consistent which will allow for him to be a very dangerous threat offensively. On the defensive side of the ball, Jones needs some work. He doesn’t have the length to disrupt passing lanes, nor the quickness to keep up with quicker guards. These issues lead to Jones requiring a lot of help defense therefore leaving someone else open hurting the team as a whole. Jones is looked at has a late teen pick to late first rounder. I feel the best slot for him would be the Chicago Bulls, as we would be able to be a spark plug off the bench and be able to learn and develop from another great point guard. Jones may not have the freakish athletic ability or size of his peers, but due to his high IQ he should find a niche for NBA teams as either a above-average starter or a nice spark plug off the bench.

Pro Comparison:

DJ Augustin

Both of these players are considered true point guards. Neither was considered to be highly athletic or strong coming out of college but both used their high basketball IQ’s to become threats. Both had high assist-to-turnover ratios coming out of college and averaged over 5.5 assists per game. In clutch moments, when Augustin was at the University of Texas and they needed a score, the ball was always handed to Augustin and this is exactly what Duke did with Jones. Both of these two men are undersized but have such good basketball awareness and creativity it allows for them to thrive on the offensive side of the ball. Defensively, both players do not possess the length to disrupt passing lanes and are rather weak defenders overall. Jones has a higher potential than that of Augustin and I would not be shocked to see him turn into more of a Kyle Lowry type of player, but for now skill wise he matches up better with Augustin.

By: Mac Crowe @Mac_Truck17