Trade candidates to replace Rubio using Disabled Player Exception

Trade candidates to replace Ricky Rubio: Tyus Jones

The 2015 Duke Blue Devils rode a mix of solid upperclassmen and talented freshman to a national championship, and Tyus Jones went from multi-year collegiate to one-and-done first-rounder. He has established himself as a strong backup point guard and occasional starter, firmly in the 25-35 range of point guards leaguewide, similar to Ricky Rubio’s standing in the league.

Jones is an important member of the Memphis Grizzlies, so he won’t be available for free. He is playing 21.1 minutes per game for the Grizzlies as a reliable, low usage ball-handler hitting 38.1 percent of his 3-pointers.

Why would the Grizzlies be willing to move him? He is a pending free agent making just $8.82 million this year, and if they remove his cap hold from the books they could get to max cap space, enough to sign the big wing they are missing: Miles Bridges, for example. Because the team has a high-minute star at point guard in Ja Morant and players like Demond Bane, Dillon Brooks and De’Anthony Melton all filling minutes at the 2, there isn’t a huge need for Jones on this roster. He is expendable.

The Grizzlies have also shown a willingness to get ahead of pending free agents to consolidate their rotation and add assets; they shipped out Grayson Allen to the Milwaukee Bucks this past offseason, when they also participated in a glorified salary dump to take on the contracts of Eric Bledsoe and Steven Adams in order to move up in the draft.

Two seconds, or perhaps a heavily protected first that converts to a pair of seconds, might get the job done. He would fit exactly into the DPE by himself, or the Cavs could send an inexpensive player back. Jones is young enough at 25 that he could be a great fit backing up Garland long-term on a reasonable contract this summer, and he would shore up the position in the meantime with a steady hand.