Throughout the offseason, the Orlando Magic seemed to be doing a greatest hits tour of players that fans had been eyeing for years.
Fans were convinced that Anfernee Simons would be the team's big move, or they would chase Collin Sexton to boost the backcourt without giving up too much. Fans wondered if Tyus Jones would be available for the mid-level exception.
These were all players the Magic had been connected to in the past at the trade deadline and free agency. It had been so long that the Magic were chasing these players, it felt like if the Magic really wanted them, they would be on the team already.
Orlando made its big splash to acquire Desmond Bane. It was a clear upgrade over the major options fans were keenly focused on. Bane brings an elite shooter without compromising or raising questions about the team's defensive identity.
The Magic still grabbed one of those players that had been on the radar, signing Tyus Jones as the team's backup point guard.
Jones does not fit the script for the Magic. He is a smaller guard at 6-foot-1. He does not have a great defensive reputation. And he is coming off a rough season with the Phoenix Suns, where he never quite found his footing.
The big thing Jones delivers is the poise of a point guard and the simplicity of someone who does not make mistakes. The big selling point with Jones is his 3-point shooting (41.4 percent in each of the last two years) and his assist-to-turnover ratio (5.3-1.1 last year).
But the question with Jones has always been whether he can make an impact on defense. He can be a player teams attack. And put in a bad defensive environment, like he was last year in Phoenix, only highlighted that weakness.
The Magic will always be concerned about a player "guarding his yard" and supporting their defense. But Orlando is better suited to boost Jones on defense in a way Phoenix could not.
The defensive difference
Defense is hard to judge individually without a keen eye. There are no numbers that perfectly capture a player's defensive impact.
The defensive metrics that do exist suggest Tyus Jones can work within strong defenses when he has support around him, but can really struggle when he is in poor defensive environments.
Last year with the Phoenix Suns, he had a career-worst -1.3 defensive box plus-minus according to Basketball-Reference and 0.3 defensive win shares. That came after posting only a -0.9 defensive box plus-minus and 0.7 defensive win shares in the 2024 season with the Washington Wizards.
For reference, the Suns ranked 27th in defensive rating last year and the Wizards ranked 28th in 2024. Jones' defensive numbers wil of course be worse playing for such poor defensive teams.
The question is whether the team was worse defensively with him on the floor.
Last year, the Suns finished the season with a defensive rating of 117.7 points allowed per 100 possessions. They had a 116.1 defensive rating with Jones on the floor. That is boosted with better defenders like Oso Ighadoro, Ryan Dunn and Mason Plumlee.
For the Wizards in 2024, the team finished with a 118.9 defensive rating. They had a team-worst 122.5 defensive rating with Jones on the floor.
That is not exactly a pitch that Jones will contribute on defense.
But in all likelihood, he will play a lot of minutes with Jonathan Isaac, Goga Bitadze and Anthony Black. Those are all plus defenders who can hide his deficiencies on that end.
Jones is not simply some player who racked up stats on losing teams -- although his move to Washington and Phoenix gave him his first opportunity to start. He has played for winning teams before. And Jones fit in defensively with them.
Back in a winning environment
When the Orlando Magic acquired Tyus Jones, the first player who was excited was their other offseason acquisition: Desmond Bane.
Bane and Jones played together for three seasons with the Memphis Grizzlies. That included three straight playoff appearances and a playoff series win in 2022.
That 2022 season saw the Grizzlies ranked sixth in defensive rating, giving up 108.9 points per 100 possessions. With Jones on the floor, the Grizzlies had a 105.5 defensive rating.
The 2021 season saw the Grizzlies have a 110.5 defnsive rating and 107.8 defensive rating with Jones on the floor. In 2023, Memphis had a 110.7 defensive rating and 111.6 with Jones on the floor.
This would point to that whatever issues Jones had with the Phoenix Suns and Washington Wizards the last two years might be more about the environment and players around him rather than him.
No one should expect Jones to be the best defender on the team. That is something the numbers do not show and really cannot show. But with good defensive players around him, he can hold his own.
And that is what the Magic have.
Their bench lineup will be almost as good defensively as their starters. If Orlando feels the need to hide Jones defensively, the team has the players to do so. But throughout Jones' career, he has proven he can hold his own on defense.
Except for the 2023 season with the Wizards, his minutes were not a complete drain on defense at least statistically.
That is a good sign that the Magic are a great environment for him.
Orlando certainly needs the stability that Jones will bring. The team needs a point guard who can manage the team and make confident and correct decisions. Jones is a low-mistake player. It is one of his big selling points. He is also capable of staying out of the way to let others attack and grow.
Jones should be a good addition to the team. The Magic should hope they do not need to rely on him to be a starter, where they may not be able to cover up all of his defensive shortcomings.
But whatever struggles anyone thinks Jones can have, he is now with a team that should be able to bring the best out of him and get him back to the consistency on that end he had when he was winning with the Grizzlies.