Wolves introduce newest additions to Minnesota fans, media

It was a day that Tyus Jones couldn’t even put into words. Something that he had always dreamed of.

That was his description of what Friday was like as he and top draft pick Karl Anthony Towns were introduced  at a press conference on Friday.

Jones, who played 5 years of high school basketball at Apple Valley, leading them to a state title his junior year, was traded to the Wolves from Cleveland on draft night in an exchange of picks.

The Wolves sent the draft rights to forward Cedi Osman from Turkey, the 31st pick in the 2015 NBA Draft, the draft rights to forward Rakeem Christmas from Syracuse, the 36th pick in the 2015 NBA Draft, and their second-round pick in the 2019 NBA Draft to Cleveland to complete the trade. Jones played his high school basketball at Apple Valley (Minn.) High School.

Jones, a 6-1 point guard, led Duke to the NCAA Championship this past season, averaging 11.8 points, , a team-high 5.6 assists and 3.5 rebounds in his freshman year. He was selected as the Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Tournament, averaging 13.0 points, 4.5 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 1.7 steals in six games. He tallied a game-high 23 points in the title game vs. Wisconsin, hitting two pivotal three-pointers in the closing minutes of the game. Jones was named to the All-ACC Freshman Team and the All-ACC Third Team. He established a Duke record first year players with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.86:1. Jones’ total assists of 217 rank third all-time among Duke freshmen.

Jones was a five-year letterwinner at Apple Valley (Minn.) High School, where he averaged 25.6 points, 8.1 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 2.7 steals as a senior. He led his team to the 2013 Class AAAA state title as a junior and was named AP Minnesota Player of the Year three times. Jones played in the McDonald’s All-American game, scoring seven points and recording a game-high 10 assists. He tallied 10 points, a game-high 12 assists and seven rebounds in the Jordan Classic.

Playing for USA Basketball, Jones earned gold medals at the 2014 FIBA Americas U18, the 2012 FIBA U17 Worlds and the 2011 FIBA Americas U16.