New Magic point guard Tyus Jones has $7 million reasons to celebrate his arrival to the City Beautiful. The former Sixth Man of the Year candidate more than doubled his salary on a one-year contract after playing last season with the Phoenix Suns. Last season, he averaged 10.2 points and shot 41.4% from beyond the arc. He furthered his image of being a reliable shooter and facilitator with an impressive assist-to-turnover ratio.

🪄💙🤍🖤 Orlando we on the wayyy! @OrlandoMagic

— Tyus Jones (@1Tyus) July 1, 2025

Tyus Jones Signing: From the Suns to the Sunshine State

What’s better than Jones getting his bag? The fact that he is reuniting with his former Grizzlies teammate Desmond Bane and landing on a team that shoved in their chips to bet on themselves winning the East.

The Magic were sorely in need of shooting. That is evidenced by their bottom-of-the-league stats in assists and three-point percentage in 2024-25. Team president Jeff Weltman, excoriated by the Magic fan base for demurring on trades and focusing instead on drafting prospects, barely waited for the confetti to hit the floor after Game 7 in OKC to announce their moonshot acquisition of sharpshooter Desmond Bane from Memphis. Their previous season’s big-name acquisition, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, connected on a total of six three-pointers in five playoff games against the Celtics. Last season  saw Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner, Jalen Suggs, and Mo Wagner all miss significant time with injuries. Caldwell-Pope and Cole Anthony now find themselves in the Volunteer State (although Memphis reportedly is looking to move on from Anthony). Jones and Bane now have the offseason to gel with Orlando’s young, promising core.

Apr 13, 2025; Sacramento, California, USA; Phoenix Suns guard Tyus Jones (21) drives to the basket against the Sacramento Kings during the third quarter at Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: John Hefti-Imagn Images

Enter Tyus Jones, the 29-year old clutch veteran that the Magic subreddit has been soliciting for years. During his exit interviews with Phoenix, after the Suns dropped nine of their final 10 games to elude the Play-In Tournament, Jones expressed his irritation with feeling underutilized off the bench. The Magic, hoping to pluck a sniper from a rebuilding team while minding their payroll (Banchero is expected to sign a max extension this summer), pleased their fans to no end and signed Jones on June 30. October will commence the fourth season that Jones and Bane have played together, their chemistry obvious and potential boundless.

Are the Orlando Magic the new Darlings of the East?

Bane and Jones are serious upgrades to the back court. Banchero and Wagner are fully healed from their respective oblique injuries. Suggs, the bleeding heart of the team, is recovering well after arthroscopic knee surgery. He is coming off a career-best season prior to going down. Mo Wagner is looking to re-sign and attend training camp after tearing his ACL, expected to return around Christmas. The draft pickups of Noah Penda and Jase Richardson are garnering top grades from league analysts. This would be a stacked cast in any scenario. The injuries that befell the Celtics, Pacers, and Bucks this year have cleared the path to a top-four seed for Orlando.

The arrival of Jones has the Magic faithful begun to possess swagger and confidence not seen since the late 2000s. After all, no real Floridian is scared of rockets or thunder. This core took Cleveland to seven games in 2024. Stuff the Magic Dragon will have plenty of reasons to flair his nostrils come October.

Photo credit: © Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images