Denver Nuggets Sign Recently Cut Dallas Mavericks Guard For 4th Stop in 2 Years

The Dallas Mavericks waived Tyus Jones over the weekend to make room for undrafted rookie Ryan Nembhard, who they had told early in the season they would convert him from a two-way contract to a standard NBA deal as soon as they could. After going over a few different options, which included buying out Khris Middleton, the Mavs eventually landed on waiving Jones.

Jones was not claimed off waivers, but he has signed a new deal with the Denver Nuggets, per ESPN's NBA insider Shams Charania. This will now be the fourth team he's played on in the last two seasons, and his stops are getting more frustrating.

The Phoenix Suns thought he could be a starting point guard last year, but he failed to live up to expectations. He chose to sign a one-year prove-it deal with the Orlando Magic, who desperately needed some quality backup guard minutes, but Jones was genuinely pretty bad, bad enough to the point that they had to use two second-round picks to dump his one-year deal to the Charlotte Hornets at the trade deadline.

Then, the Dallas Mavericks swooped in and gave the Hornets Malaki Branham as part of the Anthony Davis trade, as they wanted to sign him last summer, but he wanted more than the Mavs could offer with the taxpayer mid-level exception, which they used to sign D'Angelo Russell. As it turns out, neither player would've been worth the deal.

Jones played just 8 games for the Mavs, averaging 3.9 PPG and 3.8 APG before being waived. And now, the Denver Nuggets hope that he can provide an offensive spark to a team that is dealing with a lot of injuries.

Feb 26, 2026; Dallas, Texas, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard Tyus Jones (1) brings the ball up court against the Sacramento Kings during the second quarter at the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Tyus Jones Could Be Nearing End of Career

If Tyus Jones can't produce for the Nuggets, he could be reaching the end of his career. He has had too many chances over the last couple of years, but a team may still think he can bounce back to his form with the Memphis Grizzlies.

Jones was electric in his time with the Grizzlies, who filled in for an injured Ja Morant and led them to a lot of wins. But he hasn't been able to re-establish himself as that kind of player since. He excelled with the Washington Wizards after that, averaging 12.0 PPG and 7.3 APG, but it has been a steep drop-off since then for the former Duke star.

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