2 NBA Teams That Should Target Ty Jerome in 2025 Free Agency
The NBA Playoffs are still raging on, but it’s never too early to get a jump on the offseason. After all, 26 of the league’s teams have already begun their summers and should be working meticulously to scheme up ways to improve their rosters. Aside from the conference finalists — the New York Knicks, Indiana Pacers, Minnesota Timberwolves, and Oklahoma City Thunder — the rest of the association is already thinking about what they can do in the draft, free agency, and on the trade wire to get to where those other four teams are right now.
The free agent market this summer is expected to be relatively quiet. Between a shallow pool of talent and the lack of money available across the league, there shouldn’t be too many notable signings this offseason. That doesn’t mean that there won’t be any, though.
One of the premier talents on the market this summer will be Ty Jerome, who just came off a fantastic season for the Cleveland Cavaliers. After averaging 12.5 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 3.4 assists per game while shooting a stellar 52 percent from the field and 44 percent from beyond the arc, the backup point guard finished third in Sixth Man of the Year voting for this past season, behind the Detroit Pistons’ Malik Beasley and the Boston Celtics’ Payton Pritchard, who took home the John Havlicek Trophy.
He accomplished all that while making just over $2.5 million for the Cavs. His performance this past year should be rewarded with a handsome payday this summer, though. Even though cap space is sparse around the NBA, plenty of teams will have their midlevel exceptions available and should be willing to fork over nearly all of it for a talent like Jerome. This could land him a new contract between $6.2 million and $15.5 million annually. These two squads in particular could use his steady hand and efficient scoring to buoy their offenses:
Minnesota Timberwolves
Maybe the Minnesota Timberwolves come back down 0-2 against the Oklahoma City Thunder. If they don’t, though, it’ll likely be due to their lack of ball-handling and half-court offensive creation. The Wolves have just two players capable of consistently generating offense: their star players, Anthony Edwards and Julius Randle.
Mike Conley has been a reliable ball-handler and table-setter for them, but, at 37 years old, he simply doesn’t have the burst to regularly collapse opposing defenses anymore. Rob Dillingham showed that he wasn’t ready to run the offense for significant stretches yet this past season. Signing Jerome to act as a bridge between Conley and Dillingham and provide additional shot creation for an offense that desperately needs it against playoff defenses will do wonders for Minnesota’s ability to contend for a title.
New Orleans Pelicans
The New Orleans Pelicans will likely be desperately trying to get back into the playoffs next season. They just came off an absolutely disastrous campaign that was marred by injuries, and not just to Zion Williamson this time, either. One of their key absences throughout the year was their new All-Star point guard, Dejounte Murray.
Murry never got a chance to settle into his new team. He started off the season by fracturing his left hand and ruptured his Achilles shortly after returning from his first injury. He could be out until the turn of the calendar, rehabilitating. Adding Ty Jerome this summer would give the Pelicans a true floor general who could start until Murray returns and then become a super-sub after that, providing 48 minutes of solid point guard play for a team that usually had zero last season.
