The Miami Heat have been the subject of trade rumors for the past year, and because the league’s transaction deadline is in February, there may be three more months of them. According to NBA executives, Wizards guard Tyus Jones is one name that has been mentioned in relation to the Heat and might catch on.
Nine-year veteran Jones spent four seasons as a player with the Timberwolves and four with the Grizzlies before being traded to the Wizards during the previous offseason in exchange for Kristaps Porzingis. With 10.4 points and 4.7 assists so far this season, he has been effective for the Wizards, nailing 36.6% of his 3-pointers and 49.2% of his total attempts.
But Jones is 27 and a bit out of step with the Wizards’ rebuilding plans. Washington is very much in asset-collection mode, league sources say, and Jones is a veteran who could be converted into picks.
“He is another guy a lot of contenders are going to be watching,” one Eastern Conference executive told Heavy Sports. “If you’re the Heat, they’re looking at him, when it comes time to add a guard, which I think everyone expects they’ll do. He is a tough guy, he will come off the bench, he will do whatever the role you want filled is. He is a little bit of a bulldog.
The good news for such a Miami Heat trade rumor is that a Tyus Jones deal would not be all that expensive. He is in the second year of a two-year, $29 million extension, and most teams would not have much trouble matching salaries.
The Heat would, though. The only way to make a Tyus Jones trade work, assuming Miami does not want to give up Caleb Martin, would be to send Kyle Lowry’s $30 million contract to Washington and reclaim some other undesired Wizards contracts, like that of Delon Wright and Danilo Gallinari.
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