Mavericks must resist falling into costly free agency trap that burned the Suns

The Dallas Mavericks struck gold by drawing the No. 1 overall pick in this year's NBA Draft a couple of weeks ago, as they will now have the opportunity to add Cooper Flagg to their current roster after it seemed impossible they'd have a chance at getting another young superstar post-Luka Doncic trade.

With Flagg joining a loaded frontcourt, Dallas' top priority this offseason will undoubtedly be adding guard help, as the Mavericks desperately need a stopgap guard to play alongside Brandon Williams and partially fill the void of Kyrie Irving's absence. Preferably, this type of player would be younger, but also proven to a certain extent, as the Mavericks must do everything in their power to set themselves up for success come playoff time.

While there are a variety of good options the Mavericks could look to fill this vacancy, such as Lonzo Ball, Chris Paul, Anfernee Simons, Collin Sexton, or even Jrue Holiday, the Mavericks could go the cheaper route by trying to just sign a point guard to a veteran's minimum. Fans have speculated Paul may opt for the minimum in Dallas, but that scenario seems unlikely, as a player like Tyus Jones would be a far more likely candidate to sign for that type of dollar amount.

Mavericks should avoid going after Tyus Jones in free agency

However, the Mavericks need to avoid going after Jones with their veteran's minimum slot anyway, as he wouldn't fill enough of Dallas' guard production alongside Williams unless the Mavericks added yet another guard on top of Jones. To be clear, there haven't been any formal rumors about Jones coming to Dallas and free agency is still a little over a month away, but he showed last offseason with the Phoenix Suns that he'd be willing to take a cheaper contract if it meant being able to be a starter on a championship-level team.

Jones wasn't best accentuated in a Suns lineup that featured three other ball dominant players, and he'd certainly have more creative freedom in Dallas and would be the fourth player from Duke University on the roster (assuming Dallas selects Flagg No. 1). Chemistry and fit wouldn't be the biggest issue with Jones, but rather the fact that he can only carry an offense so much as well as his age.

Having just turned 29 years old a few weeks ago, Jones averaged 10.2 points and 5.3 assists per game in 26.8 minutes per game throughout 81 contests with the Suns this past season. His efficiency barely dipped from his time with the Washington Wizards and he still proved to be a capable three-level scorer that can get hot from outside while in Phoenix, but Jones simply doesn't have the athletic toolbox or size to be that menacing of a defender, and he struggles with his drive against point-of-attack defenders with good length.

Jones isn't a terrible option if Dallas is going to add some sort of other playmaker or creator in their lineup alongside him this offseason, but from a resource allocation perspective, it's probably better to trade for a player who is slightly better than Jones that would prevent the need for another guard simply through his addition. If Jones were truly willing to take the veteran's minimum two seasons in a row then maybe Dallas should consider him considering how cheap he'd be, but he's not their best option at guard and isn't the type of player to push this team over the hump once Irving rejoins the team from his ACL injury.