The Tyus Jones experiment in Phoenix may have run its course.
We’ll never know if moving Bradley Beal to the bench on January 6 was truly about improving the team or if it was a calculated move to make him uncomfortable, nudging him toward waiving his no-trade clause and giving the Phoenix Suns an escape hatch. If it was the latter, oh well. The trade deadline came and went, and Beal wasn’t moved. Not even close. Now, the Suns are left to make this thing work, whether they like it or not.
Since January 6, Bradley Beal has come off the bench in 14 games, averaging 16.6 points on efficient 53/42/86 shooting splits, along with 4.0 assists and 1.6 turnovers.
You could argue — and I have — that moving Beal to the bench was a strategic basketball decision, aimed at improving rotations rather than forcing a Tyus Jones/Bradley Beal/Devin Booker starting trio. The reality? Those three playing together just isn’t sustainable defensively. They’re too small to consistently make an impact on that end.
And the numbers don’t lie. Before January 6, the Jones/Beal/Booker trio was a brutal -77 in their 276 minutes together, posting a 107.9 offensive rating and an abysmal 122.9 defensive rating. Do the math—that’s a -15.0 net rating. Nasty.
Since the move, they’ve logged 100 minutes together, and while the defense has improved to a much more respectable 108.1 rating, the offense remains ugly at 103.6. A -4.5 net rating is a clear upgrade from the disastrous start of the season, but it’s still far from productive.
Budenholzer made the move, and we may never know the true reason why. Maybe it was about improving the team. Maybe it was about pushing Bradley Beal’s hand. Most likely, it was a bit of both.
For a while, it looked like the right call, coinciding with the softest part of the Suns’ schedule. But now, with the trade deadline in the rearview and the toughest remaining schedule in the NBA ahead, one thing is clear: another adjustment needs to be made.
Tyus Jones hasn’t exactly had a standout season in Phoenix. He’s turning the ball over at a career-high rate (1.3 per game), and while his assist-to-turnover ratio is still solid, it’s the worst he’s posted since his 2017-18 stint with Minnesota. Since Beal moved to the bench, that ratio has dipped even further — from 4.9 to 4.0 — highlighting the growing pains of this adjustment.
Tyus Jones this season:
4.56 AST/TO ratio, worst since 2017-18
1.3 APG (worst in career)
66 TO’s in 51 GP matches total from last year in 66 GP
4.9 AST/TO ratio before Beal to bench
4.0 AST/TO ratio after Beal to bench pic.twitter.com/GAeqGm4khz— John Voita (@DarthVoita) February 10, 2025
While Jones’s defensive rating has slightly improved since January 6 (dropping from 115.9 to 114.5), he’s still a liability on that end. Anyone with two working eyeballs can see it.
According to B-Ball Index, the numbers back it up: 54th percentile (C+) in perimeter isolation defense, 30th percentile (D) in passing lane defense, and 40th percentile (C-) in overall coverage versatility. And offensively? If he doesn’t have the ball, he might as well be a statue. His off-ball movement sits in the 23rd percentile (D-). Translation: he just stands in the corner.
What am I getting at here? Simple. It’s time to move Tyus Jones to the bench.
Barring some miraculous development, Bradley Beal is going to be part of this organization for at least the foreseeable future. That means the Suns need to figure it out between Booker and Beal. Now. They need to start together, play as many minutes as possible, and find a rhythm. The experiment with Jones in the starting lineup has run its course. It’s time for a change.
Looking back at last season, Bradley Beal and Devin Booker actually played well together when they shared the floor. In 1,111 minutes, the duo posted a 118.8 offensive rating, 113.1 defensive rating, and a +5.7 net rating, finishing at +136 overall.
And while fourth quarters were an absolute disaster for the Suns — they were a brutal -195 in the final frame last season — when Booker and Beal were on the court together during their 222 shared fourth-quarter minutes, the Suns were +23.
Maybe the answer has been right in front of us all along. The whole ‘positionless basketball’ experiment flopped…or did it?
The Suns’ fourth-quarter performances were brutal, but perhaps it was due to poor rotational patterns, combined with flawed roster construction, that left them exposed when it mattered most. You can’t have Beal and Booker playing all 12 minutes of the fourth without a stabilizing force to start the period, after all.
If you look at the chart below, which maps out last season’s rotation patterns, you’ll notice the Suns’ biggest struggles came in the fourth quarter between the 11- and 9-minute mark. That stretch, shaded in purple , highlights Phoenix’s worst plus/minus.
Look up, and you’ll see why. Those were primarily minutes where Beal and Gordon ran the backcourt. When Booker checked back in, things stabilized, but too often, the momentum had already swung too far, and the deficit had grown too large to overcome.
There was no guiding light alongside Beal, no floor general to keep things from spiraling. Tyus Jones? Monte Morris? They could serve that purpose.
I can’t help but wonder what’s stopping Phoenix from making this adjustment. Is it because Tyus Jones was promised the starting point guard spot when he came to Phoenix last summer? If that’s the case, tough luck. He’s on a vet minimum contract, and at some point, you’ve got to look toward the future and prioritize those who’ll be here long-term. Odds are, Tyus won’t be. Bradley Beal? Devin Booker? They’ll be around.
If this team is barely scraping by in the Play-In race, it’s time to figure things out, especially within Budenholzer’s system. I suspect accountability will come this offseason, but Budenholzer will likely stick around. Four years and four new head coaches is pretty ridiculous. I don’t see the Suns doubling down on that strategy. James Jones? Well, that could be a different story entirely.
So now, it’s time for the Suns to figure out how to win with both Booker and Beal starting, knowing they can sprinkle in point guard play when needed.
It’s funny, I’ve completely flipped the script. I was all for Beal coming off the bench this season, but now that he’s likely sticking around, I’m all in on a Booker/Beal backcourt. Throw Ryan Dunn in at small forward, and let’s see what this lineup can really do. It’s a shift in thinking, but the Suns need to start experimenting with what could be their future.
I respect Tyus Jones for coming here, and I admire his 41.1% shooting from beyond the arc. But we’re not just focused on winning this season anymore; it’s time to start looking ahead and figuring out how to operate next season. Tyus Jones won’t be a part of that future, and while he’s exceeded expectations, that’s not the entire story. This whole team has underperformed, but the reality is that it’s time to move him to the bench. Let him contribute in limited minutes and see if the team can start playing winning basketball against tougher competition.
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