In the 2015 NBA Draft, the Cleveland Cavaliers selected Tyus Jones out of Duke, but traded him to the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for picks No. 31 and No. 36 on Thursday night.
The word is the Cavaliers will try to package the two second-round picks. Cleveland also owns the No. 54 pick. They will also receive a 2019 second round pick in the deal. Cleveland's goal was clearly to trade out of the first round. Minnesota picked, on behalf of Cleveland, Cedi Osman, a small forward from Turkey with the 31st pick, but the league has yet to officially approve the trade. He will be a "stash guy" for the organization, meaning a player they might not put on the roster so he can have time to develop overseas. At 20 years of age, Osman posted numbers of 8.5 points, 4.2 rebounds during Turkish Basketball League play.
Despite some initial surprise at his decision to go pro, Jones was expected to be taken in the mid-to-late first round. General manager Milt Newton worked the phones feverishly, seeking a trade suitor to move back into the first round and snag him. With Minnesota fearing Memphis would take Jones at 25, Cleveland returned one of Newton's calls with about two minutes left on the clock, Saunders said. "We got him right at the last second," Saunders said. Said Newton: "The one thing I noticed about him the more I watched him play is that he's a natural leader. I think that will help us tremendously, our young group going forward."
Jones said a conversation with his agent, Rob Pelinka, at 6:20 p.m. Thursday gave him hope the Wolves might take him if they could get back into the first round. Jones told his older brother J.D. recently he "had a weird feeling I'm about to be a Timberwolf.
"I didn't know what it was, hadn't heard anything or no specific reason. But I just woke up that day, and I guess it was just God talking to me and letting me know I'm going to play for my hometown team."
