Report: Houston Rockets To Work Out Duke G Tyus Jones

It’s the off season and the Rockets are wasting no time in preparing the for the NBA Draft that’s scheduled for June 25th.

It’s no secret that the Rockets are looking to develop/upgrade a few of the positions on the depth chart and point guard would definitely be one of those.

According to ESPN Minneapolis 1500 AM and KSTP-TV’s Darren Wolfson, Duke guard Tyus Jones will work out with the Rockets this week:

Apple Valley's Tyus Jones will workout for the Rockets next after the Mavs Monday. If #Twolves want, believe they need to jump Hou. at 18.
— Darren Wolfson (@DWolfsonKSTP) May 29, 2015

I asked Wolfson when he would work out with the Rockets and he confirmed that it will be this Wednesday:

@brkp1999 Wednesday.
— Darren Wolfson (@DWolfsonKSTP) June 1, 2015

Jones is best-known for his incredible performance in the NCAA Tourney championship game vs. the Wisconsin Badgers, being instrumental in the Blue Devils insurmountable comeback after being down 48-39 with 13 minutes left to go.

His teammates, Jhalil Okafor and Justise Winslow, were both in foul trouble and coach Mike Krzyzewski had to turn to the freshman point guard and hand him the keys to the Benz in hopes of him stirring up the pot.

He certainly did so, hitting key bucket-after-bucket and put the final nail in the coffin by burying a three-pointer, putting Duke up 66-58 with 1:24 left to go.

The Badgers never recovered after that and Blue Devils held on to win the 2015 National Championship.

Jones scored 23 points — 19 in the second half — to help his team in the win.

Because of that said performance, he is now the reigning recipient of the Final Four’s Most Outstanding Player Award.

Jones has decided to declare for the draft because his stock is at its highest at this point in time and wants to strike it while it’s hot.

By returning to Duke, he’d risk losing stock which would not be good for his active pursuit of his career goals.

So how can Jones fit in with the Rockets?

Quite solidly if you ask me.

For a player that was arguably regarded as the nation’s best point guard out there, he’s not quite ready to start at the professional level on the elite teams, but would be an excellent project to develop.

The attributes of a point guard are there, superior floor-general, leader, can dole out the dimes with precision and good shooter of the rock.

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Weaknesses?

He is not the most athletic guy on the court and he can be a liability of defense as quicker guards in the NBA can and will blow by him.

But the Rockets have some of the best developmental staff in the country and I’m positive we can mold into the professional basketball player that Jones not only wants to be but needs to be.

If he works on those two attributes, then he will be a force to be reckoned with in the Association and I certainly want to see him come along as a member of the Rockets.

The Rockets own the 18th and 32nd pick of the draft this year with the 18th pick via the New Orleans Pelicans from the Omer Asik trade and the 32nd pick from the New York Knicks from the Pablo Prigioni acquisition.

Jones, 19, averaged 11.8 points, 3.5 rebounds and 5.6 assists in 39 games in his lone campaign with the Blue Devils in 2014-15.

He also shot 41.7 percent from the field, 37.9 percent from behind-the-arc and 88.9 percent from the charity stripe.

Unless we see something unorthodox in the draft pickings, I’m sure Jones will be available when the Rockets pick at 18th.