It has been seven years since the man dubbed ‘Tyus Stones' led a Duke team consisting of himself, Jahlil Okafor, Justise Winslow, and Grayson Allen to Duke's fifth NCAA Men's Basketball Championship in school history over Frank Kaminsky and the Wisconsin Badgers.

With Okafor in foul trouble nearly the entire game and Justise Winslow being more of a defensive specialist than a guy who would fill up the box score on offense, the five-star recruit out of Apple Valley, Minnesota, knew that he would have to expand his role from floor general to an offensive focal point if Duke wanted to cut down the nets.

Jones dropped 23 points, five rebounds, and five assists on a 61.5% EFG% and 71.5% TS% as Duke narrowly defeated the team that two days prior ended the undefeated Kentucky Wildcat's perfect season.

Like both Winslow and Okafor, Jones took advantage of their title and decided to enter the NBA Draft after one season, where Jones was selected 24th overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers. Jones was then immediately traded to his hometown Minnesota Timberwolves for what amounted to selections of Rakeem Christmas, Justin James, and Cedi Osman.

Jones spent the next four seasons as the backup point guard in Minnesota behind a combination of Ricky Rubio, Derrick Rose, and Jeff Teague.

After that, Jones joined the Memphis Grizzlies in the summer of 2019, where Jones has spent the last three seasons as the backup to the second overall pick of the 2019 NBA Draft, Ja Morant.

With Morant missing a multitude of games this season due to injuries, Jones finally got a chance to shine, starting over 20 games in a season for just the second time in his career.

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The rap on Jones for his career to this point is that while he is a floor general who rarely turns over the ball, his offense is a secondary part of his game. This season though, it looks as if Jones' offensive game is starting to show signs of turning a corner.

Per Cleaning The Glass, Jones shot 40% from three-point range for the first time in his career on a career-high 198 attempts (76th percentile).

https://twitter.com/memgrizz/status/1511659993069719559

Jones also shot 41% on corner three-pointers on 53 more attempts than Jons has ever shot before in his entire career.

While the overall scoring numbers do not jump off the page at you, Jones put up 19 points, five rebounds, and 10 assists per 100 possessions on 49/39/82 shooting splits this season – those numbers do not sound like a guy who should be a career backup point guard.

With Jones heading to unrestricted free agency once the Grizzlies' 2022 NBA playoff run ends, a team like the Houston Rockets, New Orleans Pelicans, or Boston Celtics should take a look in Jones' direction – especially when you consider that no team will probably have to break open the piggy bank on their owners' dresser to sign him.