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Wolves trade for Tyus Jones

Flip's chase of the hometown kid pays off

By Key Dae
Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

Flip Saunders talked up Jones for weeks, fueling speculation he was looking for a deal, and indeed he was.

He's a hometown kid, and a bit of a hero for hero-balling Duke to a title. But don't cross signals - Tyus can play. Being the hometown kid does not mean he doesn't have value as a basketball player.

We looked at Jones earlier on - he's a high assist, low turnover player who was successfully productive despite a weirdly low usage rate at Duke.

There was talk that he could go as high as 18 to the Rockets, which would have required significant asset spending to nab. The Rockets took Sam Dekker instead. He also slipped past the Mavericks at 21. The Wolves had talks with the Mavs for that pick, but decided taking Raymond Felton back wasn't feasible. (I'm happy we won't be dealing with Ray in real time, but sad we don't get a first-hand view of him awkwardly wearing those Fit Week tshirts)

When he was still there past the Bulls and Blazers as well, it was clear at that point it wouldn't take much to grab him. I'm cool with giving up just the two 2nd rounders - particularly considering the Wolves' sad history of not using 2nd rounders and what that's cost us (Chandler Parsons....)

So welcome back home Tyus! We look forward to your work with the Timberwolves!

Update: Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum just announced the trade, so it is official. In addition to the 31 and 36 picks this year, we will also send a future 2nd rounder to Cleveland. Eh. 2nd rounders are a dime a dozen. Teams can by them for pocket change id they really want one, so this deal's still 100% good.