The idea of Tyus Jones was a good one.
One of the reasons the Orlando Magic made the push they made to end last season was because they moved Cory Joseph into the starting lineup, giving the team a veteran game manager who could run point and settle the offense down. It helped the Magic finish 12-6 to earn the 7-seed and advance to the Playoffs through the Play-In Tournament.
The thought might have been that having a steady-handed veteran point guard who would not make mistakes would serve this team. Jones fit that bill as the best player in assist-to-turnover ratio in the league. He was a surefire shooter and a point guard who would make few mistakes to stabilize lineups when needed.
The idea was a good one.
Like so much during this frustrating 2026 season, the execution was not a good one.
Jones failed to work out in any way, looking more like his age at 29 years old and a smaller point guard. Jones was a poor defender before he arrived in Orlando, and his defense was worse as he struggled to make up for it offensively.
And with the Magic over the tax and nowhere near title contention, it made sense to trade Jones and his $8 million.
That is what the Magic will do before the trade deadline, sending the veteran point guard to the Charlotte Hornets along with two second-round picks for cash considerations, according to Shams Charania of ESPN.
In a summer that was largely celebrated but has failed to pan out, moving off of Jones in a straight salary dump to get under the tax and avoid starting the repeater clock is yet another free agent mistake on Jeff Weltman's ledger.
At least this one was not any more costly than a few second round picks.
A career-worst season
Tyus Jones has had a career-worst season, averaging 3.0 points per game and 2.4 assists per game. Even with fewer minutes, he was averaging a career-low 6.9 points per 36 minutes and 5.5 assists per 36 minutes.
Jones, a steady shooter with a career 37.3 percent 3-point shooter, is shooting only 29.4 percent from three this season.
In simple terms, the Magic got none of the benefits from Jones throughout his career -- minus his not turning the ball over -- and all of his weaknesses.
That was always the big concern with Jones. He is a smaller point guard and the Magic hoped they would be able to cover for him with their elite defense behind him.
The team has obviously struggled with its defense throughout this season, slipping into the bottom half of the league after Tuesday's loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Jones has not been a contributor on that end.
Orlando had a 114.4 defensive rating with Jones on the floor, surprisingly 0.2 points per 100 possessions better than the team's overall average. But more shockingly the Magic had only a 107.3 offensive rating with Jones on the floor, ahead of Jonathan Isaac and the recovering Moe Wagner.
It has been rough. And without Jones' shooting, the Magic have had to be cautious with how much they play him.
The Magic's main goal at this deadline was to get under the tax. And a struggling player like Jones was the easy target to move to accomplish that goal.
Another free agent failure
Most NBA pundits and critics praised the Orlando Magic's signing of Tyus Jones. They bought in that this was a veteran steady hand to guide this young team and give the team some stability at point guard. That would help them.
The idea was certainly a good one.
But it is clear that it simply did not work, whether it was a bad fit schematically or a player hitting his age wall sooner than expected. Jones fell off completely.
It was another major free agent failure under Jeff Weltman's tenure.
The Magic have struggled with big free agent acquisitions in Weltman's tenure with the team, dating back to the 2018 season.
His first big free agent signing after the team made the Playoffs in 2019 was for Al-Farouq Aminu.
In Aminu, the Magic got a big defender who was a starter for the Western Conference finalist Portland Trail Blazers. It seemingly filled a need for more size on the perimeter to handle the Kawhi Leonard/Pascal Siakam tandem that gave the Magic problems in that playoff series.
But injuries limited Aminu to just 35 games in two seasons, including 18 in the 2020 season. He was moved in the Nikola Vucevic trade that reset the franchise's roster.
His next big offseason free-agent signing was Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.
The veteran wing who had won championships with the Los Angeles Lakers and Denver Nuggets was supposed to give the team one of the best 3-and-D players in the league.
He provided the defense and leadership part. But he struggled from deep, making only 31.7 percent of his 3-pointers. Caldwell-Pope struggled to provide the one skill the Magic were desperate for. And in an injury-riddled year, his struggles kept the Magic from realizing their full potential.
Orlando traded Kentavious Caldwell-Pope after that one unsuccessful season in the Desmond Bane trade.
The failure with Caldwell-Pope was the last chance the Magic had with cap room before they became very expensive with the extensions to their drafted core players. It was a missed opportunity. One that became costly to acquire Bane.
Another free agency failure is frustrating for a team that now can only work on the margins. That seems to be the one area that Weltman has struggled with.
Jones simply represents another missed opportunity in free agency. One that has cost the Magic as they have struggled to break out this season. Orlando still has not found the right mix of who to add in free agency. And that is at least part of why the team has struggled to take the next steps.
The Magic had to get under the tax and they accomplished that goal. The Jones signing just did not work out.