Tyus Jones has carved a career out of being mistake-free and limiting turnovers. He was the kind of point guard the Orlando Magic like -- someone who can stabilize and organize the team.
But that mountain has proven taller to climb than anticipated.
No moment exemplified this more than Jones going for a layup in the open floor against the Houston Rockets on Sunday.
Jones was able to shoot the gap and get a steal to get a run out toward the basket. But Kevin Durant caught him and blocked the shot off the backboard.
If Jones was not going to score with nobody in front of him, where was he going to score? Increasingly, Jones has been hesitant to shoot. He has not been passing the ball effectively within the Magic's offense.
It leaves a lot of questions: What does Jones do well enough, and how does he help the team win? The numbers through the early season suggest it is not a lot.
Mosley was criticized for sticking with Jones through the first 7.5 minutes of the fourth quarter. Jones failed to score in that stretch and did not log any stats, but the Magic were +2. It was not a negative for the team.
Orlando went on a 7-0 run and built an 11-point lead with a line of Tyus Jones, Desmond Bane, Jett Howard, Jonathan Isaac and Wendell Carter. He exited the game with the Magic up four.
That did not lose the game. But certainly, the Magic hoped that a veteran point guard would be able to organize and help push the team to expand leads.
The Magic signed Tyus Jones to be a stabilizing force -- a better version of what they got from Cory Joseph last year -- and there are certainly elements of that. But the Magic hoped he would be a reliable three-point shooter in addition to an organizer and creator.
Jones has fallen short. And with the team struggling to start the season, even with Desmond Bane looking like himself in the starting lineup, the Jones miss has felt heavier and bigger. Especially as the Magic continually turn to him.
Back to basics
Quite simply, there are no statistics to suggest Tyus Jones has delivered anything the Orlando magic hoped for this season.
Jones is averaging only 1.4 points per game, by far the fewest in his career. He is shooting only 25.7 percent from the floor and 10.5 percent (2 for 19) from three. This is a player who is a career 37.5 percent 3-point shooter and shot better than 40 percent from three in each of the last two seasons.
Jones' scoring with floaters and three-pointers were part of his value. He has not delivered.
It is easy to focus on the scoring, but the Magic hoped his efficiency would lead to better offense.
"It doesn't have to be about scoring every time," coach Jamahl Mosley said about Tyus Jones after the Orlando Magic's win over the Brooklyn Nets. "It has to be about making the right play. Whether he scores two, 10, zero, he is trying to find ways to help this team win. That experience and that leadership is going to be important for this team as we go down the stretch."
Jones' value was always his efficiency and his passing. He rarely turned the ball over and was a high-pass player. The Magic wanted that stability in their lineup.
Jones is averaging only 1.4 assists per game against 0.4 turnovers per game.
Per 36 minutes, Jones is averaging 4.0 assists against 1.0 turnover, the fewest assists per 36 minutes in his career. Per 100 possessions, Jones is averaging 5.4 assists against 1.3 turnovers, the fewest assists he has averaged per 100 possessions in his career, but also the fewest turnovers per 100 possessions.
Jones is not giving the team the passing and stabilizing effect they hoped for.
Very clearly, the Magic already recognize they are not getting everything they need from Jones and have started crunching his minutes and limiting him.
Still providing stability?
That is where the argument for moving away from Tyus Jones is growing. The question is still whether Jones is giving the team the stability it needs.
And if Jones is not providing that stability, then his usefulness decreases.
Jones has always struggled on defense because of his size. It was always his shooting that helped him overcome those mistakes.
The shooting has not been there this year, and the Magic have struggled defensively in lineups with Jones.
Orlando has a 116.2 defensive rating with Jones on the floor. Among regular rotation players only Anthony Black's 117.9 is worse. But when Black is on the floor and Jones is off, the Magic have a 115.3 defensive rating, according to DataBallr. The Magic have a 138.6 defensive rating when the two backup guards share the floor.
This might speak to how poor the Magic's bench has been more than anything else.
Still, the Magic expected Jones to provide stability with his playmaking and shooting. And that is not happening either. The Magic have a 96.5 offensive rating with Tyus Jones on the floor -- only Jonathan Isaac's 91.8 is worse.
Jones has been less involved with far fewer touches (77.9 touches per 36 minutes this year compared to 82.7 last year with the Phoenix Suns). That is where his poor shooting and defense become amplified.
There is still something missing and a formula the team needs to find. They are still struggling to maximize Jones and get anything from him.
It is certainly at the point where fans are wondering if the team should turn to rookie Jase Richardson over the veteran guard.
Jamahl Mosley is clearly not there yet. He is going to continue giving Jones a chance to rediscover what made him considered the best backup point guard in the league entering this season.
But right now, the Magic are not getting anywhere near what they expected from the veteran guard. And that has put a lot of pressure on the team and its execution.
This free agent stabilizer is not yet delivering.