Nuggets sign veteran point guard Tyus Jones

The Denver Nuggets have added veteran guard Tyus Jones, ESPN reported on Monday.

Jones, a 11-year NBA veteran known for his steady ball-handling and low turnover rate, fills an immediate need in Denver’s backcourt as the team pushes toward the postseason. The 29-year-old became available Saturday when the Dallas Mavericks waived him, granting his request to seek a playoff contender. He will be eligible to play in the postseason.

The move comes at a critical juncture for the Nuggets, who just dropped a primetime Sunday matchup to Minnesota to knock the team to 17-18 in their last 35 games as they’ve dealt with a bevy of injuries over the middle portion of the season.

The Nuggets’ bench production has been a persistent concern throughout the Nikola Jokic era, and Jones brings proven depth at the point guard position. He can add a little more offensive punch to the role than the defensive-focused Bruce Brown brings. And Jones can allow the versatile Brown to slide into more of a wing role, where the Nuggets have taken most of their injury hits, down Aaron Gordon, Peyton Watson and Spencer Jones right now.

Tyus appeared in eight games with Dallas after arriving at the trade deadline from Charlotte, averaging 3.9 points and 3.8 assists in limited minutes.

His career numbers paint a more promising picture: Jones owns one of the best assist-to-turnover ratios in NBA history and has served as a reliable backup for playoff teams throughout his career with Minnesota, Memphis and Phoenix. His most promising stint came for that upstart Grizzlies team where he started plenty of games for oft-injured Ja Morant.  He scored 17 points with eight assists a game over 22 successful starts during the 2022-23 season.

Since that year he’s bounced around with a solid showing as a starter in Washington followed by a rough time running point last year for the Suns. This year was more of the same for the Magic, where he didn’t really help a team in desperate need of offense do much.

Denver was among multiple playoff teams that showed interest in buyout candidates ahead of Sunday’s deadline, according to reports. The Nuggets seemed to been into Khris Middleton but he did not want to leave Dallas so this was the pivot.

Jones’ defense is a worry as well as his lack of scoring in recent years but his ability to make passes and break a press could be hugely important for the Nuggets, given that’s been a major struggle for the team for three seasons.

Jones signing completes Denver’s roster at 15, with Spencer Jones getting added to the full-time roster after the trade deadline move of Hunter Tyson.

The Nuggets now have Jones, Jalen Pickett and K.J. Simpson as point guard depth behind All-Star Jamal Murray.

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