ORLANDO — Tyus Jones was not a part of the Orlando Magic for long, and his on-court performance gave life to disappointing results. Despite that, his departure shook the locker room. 

In a move to get the Magic under the luxury tax, the front office traded Jones to the Charlotte Hornets along with two second round draft picks on Wednesday night. 

“Yeah, it's never easy,” Magic guard Desmond Bane said after Thursday’s shoot around. “I mean, ties meant a lot to everybody here in the organization. A-plus human being, first and foremost. We're going to miss him.” 

Bane’s time with Jones extends beyond their brief stint together in Orlando, as the two were also teammates with the Memphis Grizzlies for three seasons. 

“I mean, a lot of guys were saying, you know, it doesn't even feel the same in here today,” Bane added. “And that's just the type of impact that a guy like that has, [he] built so many relationships with players; staff. He was a big part of what we've done and who we are. So, definitely, like you said, one of the tougher days.” 

Jones’ ties to the past go beyond Bane, but to other players on the roster as well. 

“The locker room wasn't happy,” coach Jamahl Mosley said before Thursday’s game against the Brooklyn Nets. “There was no celebration to it; they miss the guy that they've been with before. But you also understand that — I've said this before — we got ties; his connection to so many guys. You know, he's a Duke guy. So, there's Paulo and Wendell.  

Then, he's from Minnesota. So, he had the mentorship to Jalen. So, those are long lasting relationships that aren't just about the court. And I've said this time and time again, and I believe it till I can't say it anymore. We are in the relationship business, and it's about people.” 

Mosley also talked about what it meant to get a vote of confidence from president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman, who said during a post-deadline press conference that Mosley has the organization’s full support and will remain in his role for the rest of the season. 

“I think it means a lot,” Mosley said. “You know, in this business, in this industry, coaches do become revolving doors, and that's the reality of it. We know what we sign up for in that regard. But to know that Jeff and I and this organization are aligned with what we want to have done with this group and this team and how we need to play, where we've come up short, we've talked about it a ton. 

And I think that's the important piece, that we keep our lines of communication open, not just he and I, but the players as well, that we just keep communicating with one another about the things that we're trying to accomplish moving forward.” 

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