Tag: Tre Jones

Spurs’ Tre Jones ranked as NBA’s 32nd-best point guard

San Antonio Spurs point guard Tre Jones was ranked just the 32nd-best point guard in the NBA.

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The San Antonio Spurs are in a very promising place moving forward, largely thanks to the selection of Victor Wembanyama. But even past that, the Spurs have plenty of great young players on the roster. Guys like Devin Vassell and Jeremy Sochan have a ton of potential and could be great pieces for years to come.

That being said, San Antonio will have to develop their talent at a very high level if they want to push forward effectively, a feat they have done successfully in the past. One player who could be of particular interest is Tre Jones, who is slated to be the Spurs’ starting point guard next year.

Jones is still only 23 years old, so he has time to improve. However, according to Noah Magaro-George of Air Alamo, Jones is just the 32nd-best point guard in the NBA and ranks in the sixth tier of all point guards.

“Seeing Tre Jones slip to the bottom of the tier list may not be the most encouraging thing Spurs fans have read this summer, but his ranking speaks more to the saturation of talent at point guard than his abilities. After all, he averaged 12.9 points and 6.6 assists in his first season as a starter.

“Though the Spurs could have let the Duke product walk in free agency, the front office re-signed him to a lucrative contract. Jones isn’t the future of the franchise, and that’s alright. He can be a priceless asset as a reliable stopgap who runs the show until San Antonio finds a long-term solution,” Magaro-George wrote.

How well do you think Jones will perform next season?

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Spurs’ Tre Jones urged to improve 3-point shooting this offseason

Tre Jones needs to improve his three-point shooting if he wants to take the next step for the San Antonio Spurs.

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When it comes to the San Antonio Spurs, all eyes have been on Victor Wembanyama. The 19-year-old rookie was selected with the first overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft and is widely expected to be one of the best players in the league someday soon. At the very least, he should be the face of the Spurs franchise for years to come.

But while most fans are primarily keeping tabs on Wembanyama, the Spurs need to focus on developing all of their young talent. Tre Jones, who the Spurs just re-signed to a new contract this summer, is someone who should be taking a leap next season.

And according to Jacob Douglas of Pounding the Rock, Jones needs to work on his three-point shooting if he wants to take the next step.

“Nearly all of the data would suggest that Jones is a productive NBA player,” Douglas wrote. “There is just one defect that holds him back from being viewed as a key piece of the Spurs young core – his 28.5% three-point percentage.

“Jones isn’t a volume shooter. He only took 2.3 a game (he shot 158 threes and made 45.) The Spurs don’t need him to be. They have plenty of guys like Devin Vassell, Zach Collins, and Doug McDermott to take five-to-six threes a night. They just need him to be a threat from deep. He has not been that in his first three NBA seasons.”

If Jones can become a reliable three-point shooter, what is his ceiling with the Spurs next year?

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Who should start for the Spurs: Tre Jones or Keldon Johnson?

If it comes down to it, who should the San Antonio Spurs start next season – Tre Jones or Keldon Johnson?

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In just one summer, the San Antonio Spurs went from one of the worst teams in the league to one of the most interesting. Obviously, drafting a talent like Victor Wembanyama will do that, but nonetheless, the Spurs are set to have a bunch more eyes on them this season than they did last year.

Wembanyama is set to take over as the face of the franchise, meaning he will undoubtedly be in the starting lineup. Gregg Popovich has stated that Zach Collins will start at the center spot next to Wembanyama. And Devin Vassell, a rising young talent, and Jeremy Sochan, San Antonio’s rookie last year, seem like fair bets to take up two other spots.

Pounding the Rock’s Marilyn Dubinski recently wrote about the Spurs’ starting five dilemma, weighing the options of Tre Jones or Keldon Johnson as the team’s final starter.

“With the main part of the Spurs roster likely set, the most debated question has been who will be in the Spurs starting lineup on day 1,” Dubinski wrote. “Top overall pick Victor Wembanyama will surely start at power forward (he is not ready to bang with NBA centers down low), and Gregg Popovich has already said that Zach Collins will be the starting center, so assuming those two facts remain true, then what? Someone from last season’s main starting lineup will have to move to the bench, be it Vassell, Tre Jones, Keldon Johnson or Jeremy Sochan.

“Vassell’s job might be the safest if only because of that aforementioned upside and him being the best shooter of the bunch. Sochan also shares that potential upside trait and can play multiple positions despite being labeled as a power forward, so it might come down to Tre Jones and Keldon Johnson, who will both be returning on new contracts. If the Spurs feel they need a true point guard on the floor, Jones is the man. If they want to get experimental and just want their five best players on the court regardless of position, Johnson would start. Both seem unselfish enough to accept 6th man roles, so it will be fascinating to find out what direction they go.”

Who should the Spurs start next season if it comes down to it – Jones or Johnson?

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San Antonio Spurs officially re-sign Tre Jones to new contract

The San Antonio Spurs officially announced they have re-signed Tre Jones.

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The San Antonio Spurs have re-signed point guard Tre Jones to a new contract, a move that was reported earlier this summer but was just officially announced by the team. The team did not reveal the details of the contract, but according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski’s original report, it’s a two-year, $20 million deal.

Jones just wrapped up his third NBA season, which was by far the best of his career. The 23-year-old point guard appeared in 68 games (including 65 starts) and played 29.2 minutes per contest. He averaged 12.9 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 6.6 assists per game while shooting 45.9% from the field and 28.5% from behind the three-point line.

While the move was announced at the beginning of free agency, the Spurs waited to make it official so they could use the rest of their cap space effectively.

If Jones had signed the offer when it was reported, the Spurs would have lost most, if not all, of their remaining cap space. But since they can go over the cap to re-sign their own players, they made other moves first. In turn, they were able to help multiple teams complete sign-and-trades by taking on extra salary.

They added Reggie Bullock, Cameron Payne, Cedi Osman, and Lamar Stevens in these trades, the latter of whom was just recently waived.

Now, the Spurs have a ton of tradable contracts on the roster which can be used in future moves, and Jones is also back in place. He’ll almost certainly be the team’s starting point guard heading into next season, pairing Victor Wembanyama with a solid pass-first point guard.

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Extension before 2023 free agency: Who are the candidates?

Here are six players who could avoid free agency by receiving an extension this week.

As free agency approaches, potential free agents are preparing for their future. Teams and players can begin negotiations on June 30, the final day of the 2022-23 salary cap year. Some players, still extension-eligible till that date, can bypass free agency by signing a new deal now. Naz Reid and the Minnesota Timberwolves have initiated proceedings three-year, $42 million deal that he was eligible to sign all season long.

Some players like Draymond Green and Khris Middleton, who seem like good bets to re-sign with their current teams would make sense as extension candidates. However, they could be looking at securing long-term deals where they get a lower starting salary. They wouldn’t be allowed to extend at a lower starting salary than the player option amounts they declined, but they could in free agency. The new CBA has changed that rule to allow such players with options to extend at lower amounts starting next offseason.

Here are several other players who remain extension-eligible and could come to terms on a deal prior to free agency.

Nets Summer League: Brooklyn improves to 3-1 with win over Spurs

Brooklyn had another Summer League thriller go down to the wire.

The Nets’ past two games went down to the wire against the Bucks and the Wizards. Head coach Jordan Ott would have loved to avoid that for once by picking up a comfortable win. Unfortunately for him, the Nets found themselves down by as many as 16 in the first quarter against the Spurs on Sunday.

Offense was hard to come by in the first period for Brooklyn by only scoring 20 points. It was the complete opposite for the Spurs, particularly for Tre Jones and Joshua Primo. The duo had their team in cruise control with the lead. San Antonio as a whole had a 30-point outburst in the first quarter. Luckily for the Nets, Cameron Thomas was finally able to put his mark on the game. Thomas went for 12 points in the second period alone to finish the half with 14 points. The Nets were in striking distance, down five.

In the third quarter, Brooklyn kept their foot on the gas. Thomas could not be contained and the Nets finally figured the Spurs out defensively. They were able to hold San Antonio to 23 points in the third period. Thanks to the defensive effort, the Nets captured their first lead of the game at 75-74 before the start of the fourth.

It was deja vu for Jordan Ott and his team. They were going tit for tat with the Spurs to decide who was leaving the building with the win. Again, it was Cameron Thomas who stepped up in the clutch. He made shot after shot for the Nets on his way to 36 points on 11-for-25 shooting. Thomas’ accurate free throw shooting and shot making down the stretch was enough to give Brooklyn the 104-100 win. Alize Johnson (13 PTS, 14 REBS) finished the contest with a double-double too, showing shades of his debut performance with the Nets a few months ago.

After the game, Thomas was asked how he’s able to continue stepping up in pressure situations. His response:

“Confidence. That’s my best friend right there.”

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2020 ACC Tournament Completion: Notre Dame barely falls to Duke in title game

The Irish lose a heartbreaker with the ACC’s automatic bid on the line.

This is the conclusion of a series in which we are simulating the remainder of the canceled 2020 ACC Tournament using the sports simulation tool WhatIfSports.com. For more information about the simulation, check out the introduction here. For the complete tournament results, refer to the bracket at the bottom of the post.

Notre Dame refused to back down to Duke in the 2020 ACC Tournament championship game, even when things looked bleak. In fact, it looked like the Irish might pull off an epic comeback and earn the ACC’s automatic bid to March Madness. Alas, it wasn’t to be, and the Blue Devils won their third ACC Tournament title in four years with an 83-81 victory.

The Irish initially staged a competitive first half before tailing off and falling behind by 16 at halftime. They trailed by 13 with seven minutes to go but went on a 14-2 run to cut the deficit to one after Cassius Stanley fouled out for Duke. Soon after, Rex Pflueger, no stranger to Notre Dame heroics, hit a jump shot to tie the game at 81 with 1:26 left. It appeared the Irish were poised to knock off their third straight higher seed.

Unfortunately for Notre Dame, it was at that moment when the offense ran out of gas. After Vernon Carey hit two free throws to give Duke a two-point lead, T.J. Gibbs missed a go-ahead 3, and Juwan Durham was way off-target on a shot that would have tied the game. John Mooney came up with a key block on Carey, giving the Irish one last chance with 14 seconds remaining. Dane Goodwin found an open shot on the right wing, but he missed as the buzzer sounded, breaking the Irish’s hearts and leaving them to hope the selection committee would be impressed enough by their resume and 21-13 record to grant them an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.

All five Blue Devils starters reached double figures. Carey achieved a double-double of 17 points and 10 rebounds, but Tre Jones’ 16 points and third straight nine-assist showing gave him Tournament MVP honors as those numbers aligned perfectly with his tournament averages over the three games he played. Stanley recorded 14 points and seven boards before his disqualification. Matthew Hurt scored 13, and Jordan Goldwire had 11.

Gibbs was the game’s top scorer with 22 points, including four 3-pointers. Pflueger scored 17 and led the Irish with five assists. Mooney had a trademark game of 12 points and a game-high 14 rebounds. Goodwin scored 12 off the bench but undoubtedly cared more about his failure to send the game to overtime at the horn.

2020 ACC Tournament Completion: Notre Dame barely falls to Duke in title game

The Irish lose a heartbreaker with the ACC’s automatic bid on the line.

This is the conclusion of a series in which we are simulating the remainder of the canceled 2020 ACC Tournament using the sports simulation tool WhatIfSports.com. For more information about the simulation, check out the introduction here. For the complete tournament results, refer to the bracket at the bottom of the post.

Notre Dame refused to back down to Duke in the 2020 ACC Tournament championship game, even when things looked bleak. In fact, it looked like the Irish might pull off an epic comeback and earn the ACC’s automatic bid to March Madness. Alas, it wasn’t to be, and the Blue Devils won their third ACC Tournament title in four years with an 83-81 victory.

The Irish initially staged a competitive first half before tailing off and falling behind by 16 at halftime. They trailed by 13 with seven minutes to go but went on a 14-2 run to cut the deficit to one after Cassius Stanley fouled out for Duke. Soon after, Rex Pflueger, no stranger to Notre Dame heroics, hit a jump shot to tie the game at 81 with 1:26 left. It appeared the Irish were poised to knock off their third straight higher seed.

Unfortunately for Notre Dame, it was at that moment when the offense ran out of gas. After Vernon Carey hit two free throws to give Duke a two-point lead, T.J. Gibbs missed a go-ahead 3, and Juwan Durham was way off-target on a shot that would have tied the game. John Mooney came up with a key block on Carey, giving the Irish one last chance with 14 seconds remaining. Dane Goodwin found an open shot on the right wing, but he missed as the buzzer sounded, breaking the Irish’s hearts and leaving them to hope the selection committee would be impressed enough by their resume and 21-13 record to grant them an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.

All five Blue Devils starters reached double figures. Carey achieved a double-double of 17 points and 10 rebounds, but Tre Jones’ 16 points and third straight nine-assist showing gave him Tournament MVP honors as those numbers aligned perfectly with his tournament averages over the three games he played. Stanley recorded 14 points and seven boards before his disqualification. Matthew Hurt scored 13, and Jordan Goldwire had 11.

Gibbs was the game’s top scorer with 22 points, including four 3-pointers. Pflueger scored 17 and led the Irish with five assists. Mooney had a trademark game of 12 points and a game-high 14 rebounds. Goodwin scored 12 off the bench but undoubtedly cared more about his failure to send the game to overtime at the horn.

2020 ACC Tournament Completion: Duke topples top-seeded Florida State

The Blue Devils will have a chance to defend their ACC Tournament championship.

This is part of a series in which we are simulating the remainder of the canceled 2020 ACC Tournament using the sports simulation tool WhatIfSports.com. For more information about the simulation, check out the introduction here. For tournament progress to this point, refer to the bracket at the bottom of the post.

In a rematch of the 2019 ACC Tournament championship game, Duke and Florida State sought a chance to play for the 2020 title. Since these teams had the best overall records in the ACC during the season, this semifinal could have been the de facto title game. Regardless, the Blue Devils were not about to let an insignificant thing like seeds dictate their fate. As such, they knocked off the top-seeded Seminoles, 79-67.

Duke didn’t trail until there were four minutes left in the first half. Florida State expanded its lead to eight before the Blue Devils scored seven unanswered points to cut it to one at halftime. The teams traded leads for much of the second half and got the game to a 61-all tie before the Seminoles went on a scoring drought that lasted five-and-a-half minutes. That allowed the Blue Devils to go on a 12-0 run and not look back.

Tre Jones did a lot for the Blue Devils with 15 points and game highs of nine assists and three steals. Cassius Stanley also scored 15, doing so on 6-of-11 shooting from the field. Matthew Hurt added 13, and Vernon Carey achieved a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Devin Vassell and Trent Forrest scored 13 apiece to lead the Seminoles. Patrick Williams scored 11 off the bench, and M.J. Walker added 10. Shooting 39.4 percent from the floor as a team played a key role in the loss.

2020 ACC Tournament Completion: Duke victorious over NC State

The Blue Devils are moving on.

We are halfway through the quarterfinals of the 2020 ACC Tournament, and things continue to hold to form. Duke led for almost the entirety of the closest-seeded game of the round. The Blue Devils will face top-seeded Florida State after disposing of in-state rival NC State, 74-60.

Duke led by as much as eight during the first half, but NC State rallied to tie it late before settling for a three-point deficit at halftime. The Wolfpack continued to keep pace early in the second half, even briefly holding a pair of one-point leads. It was after that latter lead that the Blue Devils went on a 12-2 run to go up nine and not fall behind again. Although the Wolfpack were able to cut it to a six-point game with less than three minutes to go, the Blue Devils finished it with a 9-1 run.

Tre Jones came agonizingly close to a triple-double, finishing with 17 points, nine assists and seven rebounds, all of which were game highs or tied for them. Vernon Carey was almost as impressive for the Blue Devils, scoring 15 and pulling down seven boards. Despite shooting 4 of 13, Cassius Stanley finished with 10 points.

Markell Johnson was the key player for the Wolfpack with 13 points and seven rebounds. DJ Funderburk scored 12 on a 4-of-7 performance from the field. Devon Daniels had 10, a mark equaled by Pat Andree off the bench.