Tag: Tre Jones

Tre Jones dishes out 16 assists in G League debut with Austin Spurs

Tre Jones produced a double-double in his debut game on assignment with the Austin Spurs in the G League.

San Antonio Spurs rookie Tre Jones produced 18 points and 16 assists on assignment with the Austin Spurs during a 119-111 win over the Memphis Hustle as the NBA G League tipped off the 2021 season on Wednesday.

Jones was assigned to the bubble in order to get consistent playing time after playing sparingly to begin the year with San Antonio. He started the contest and logged 34 minutes of action in the win, while adding four assists and two steals.

“It felt great to be back out on the court again,” Jones said after the game. “I haven’t been able to play a lot recently. Being able to be out there and playing again in a real game-like atmosphere and competing with everyone definitely felt good to be back.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvhvAKEaYkw

Austin enters the season as one of the most talented teams in the league, with the likes of Luka Samanic, Cameron Reynolds and Robert Woodard II joining Jones on the roster. The team certainly start off the season strong, and should be a force throughout their stay in Orlando.

This post originally appeared on Rookie Wire! Follow us on Facebook!

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Jones brothers Tyus and Tre share NBA court for the first time

Spurs rookie Tre Jones logged only three minutes on Saturday, but that time on the court proved to be rather meaningful.

San Antonio Spurs guard Tre Jones logged only three minutes on Saturday night, but that time on the court ended up being rather meaningful for the second-round pick.

That would be because his brother, Tyus, was also on the court with the Spurs facing the Memphis Grizzlies. The occasion marked the first time the two brothers squared off against each other in the NBA after Tre was drafted this year.

The contest on Saturday was actually the second time the two teams met this season, but Tre did not appear in the first game, which was the regular-season opener on Dec. 23. Tre called the opportunity to play his big brother a dream come true at the time, and even called Tyus his biggest role model.

During his time on the court, Tre recorded two points as the Spurs fell to Tyus and the Grizzlies, 129-112. Tyus finished with eight points and eight assists.

The moment proved to be very special for the Jones family. The two brothers each dreamt of not only making it to the NBA, but also facing each other on the court. With the first meeting checked off, Tyus can take the early 1-0 advantage in head-to-head matchups…

This post originally appeared on Rookie Wire! Follow us on Facebook!

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Spurs’ Tre Jones ‘blessed’ to play his brother in first NBA game

Tre Jones and the Spurs are set to tip-off the regular season on Wednesday versus his older brother, Tyus, and the Grizzlies.

On Wednesday, Tre Jones will have the opportunity to play in his first NBA game when the San Antonio Spurs tip-off the 2020-21 regular season versus the Memphis Grizzlies. The game will also have a little more meaning as it will also be the first chance to play his older brother, Tyus.

Of course, Tyus will begin his sixth season in the NBA on Wednesday, and his second with the Grizzlies. He spent the first four years of his career with the Minnesota Timberwolves before signing with the Grizzlies prior to last season.

The game will have plenty of meaning to the two brothers. Tre said on Monday that they have had plenty of battles growing up and the moment will be surreal once the two take the court in Memphis.

“There is a lot of emotion going through my mind right now with it being my first regular-season game and also it being against my brother,” Tre said. “I feel very blessed to be in this position. Obviously, to be going into my first NBA game but also being against my brother, my biggest role model throughout life so far. I know I’m really excited. I have been talking to him every single day like normal but it’s just funny we get to go against each other for the first time ever.”

Tyus was with Tre on the night of the NBA draft and had the opportunity to share that experience with him. The two both dreamt of each making it to the NBA growing up and the moment has finally arrived that they have long been hoping for.

Tre admittedly said that he hasn’t had much success against his brother in 1-on-1 situations with Tyus often getting the best of him. Regardless of the outcome on Wednesday, the evening will prove to be a moment they will remember for quite a long time.

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Tre Jones learning from Patty Mills during Spurs training camp

Patty Mills has helped mentor the Spurs’ two draft picks during training camp, including second-rounder Tre Jones.

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12-year veteran Patty Mills spent much of the San Antonio Spurs’ stay during the season restart as a mentor to the younger players on the team and that has continued into training camp ahead of the 2020-21 season.

Of course, the Spurs added first-round pick Devin Vassell (11th overall) and second-rounder Tre Jones (41st) in the NBA draft. Mills has spent time during camp so far offering words of wisdom to the two players on what to expect and how they can have a strong start to the season.

“I think the biggest thing for them is just being patient,” Mills said Tuesday on a Zoom call with reporters. “There is no rush, especially for them. They are here now so to be able to take this process and really understand the learning that comes with this process because there is really no rush. I think a lot of the time young guys come in, especially with their caliber, and want to get right into it and they speed up a little bit. The thing that I try to help them with is it takes time and to enjoy this process and listen and learn and ask questions every day.”

Jones has worked with Mills throughout camp on a variety of drills and little nuances of the game at the point guard position. The two worked on defensive moves in practice on Tuesday, from defending in the post to how to utilize his forearms and hands down low.

The biggest adjustment players often face transitioning to the NBA is the physicality of the game. As a smaller guard, Jones will have to learn how to use his body more on defense and is learning those and other techniques from Mills and others on the roster.

“I’m trying to work with Patty Mills a lot when we break up into small groups but I feel like everybody has been helping me out a lot,” Jones said on Tuesday. “Both point guards that are right there are helping me out a lot to start off with. It really just depends on what we’re going through in practice. Today, we were going through some different defensive things where [Patty] was giving me some words on how to defend [since] I’m a smaller guy as well in this league.”

The Spurs have dealt with a few injuries to some key players that could open the door for Jones. Derrick White (toe) and Keldon Johnson (foot) are expected to miss some time while Lonnie Walker IV is also dealing with a back injury.

Jones could be lifted into extended action earlier than initially thought but the former Duke guard projects to be able to step in and contribute. He was a strong defender at the college level, earning ACC Defensive Player of the Year honors, while he was also a great leader on the court.

The work Jones has put in so far could be put to the test early this preseason but it is certain he will be ready once his number is called when the Spurs begin play on Saturday.

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Spurs signed second-round pick Tre Jones to 3-year contract

Jones was named the ACC Player of the Year after averaging 16.2 points, 6.4 assists, 4.2 rebounds and 1.8 steals in 29 games last season.

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On Friday, the San Antonio Spurs announced that they signed former Duke Blue Devils guard Tre Jones, the 41st overall pick in the NBA draft, to a contract. The deal is reportedly three years long, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

Jones was named the 2020 ACC Player of the Year after averaging 16.2 points, 6.4 assists, 4.2 rebounds and 1.8 steals in 29 games last season with the Blue Devils. He also shot 42.3% from the field, including 36.1% from 3-point range.

The 20-year-old has been touted as a strong defender but will need to work on becoming a consistent shooter. He made a leap from shooting just 26.2% from 3-point range as a freshman and made it a focus of his pre-draft training to improve prior to transitioning to the NBA.

Jones expected to be a first-round pick but ultimately fell to the Spurs in the middle of the second round. The selection of Jones could eventually become a steal as many believed he would be a first-round pick given his skill set on both ends of the floor.

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2020 NBA Draft Big Board 5.0: Final update ranking Top 100 prospects

After numerous delays and postponements, front offices and draftniks have had more time to analyze the 2020 NBA draft than any previous year.

After numerous delays and postponements, front offices and draftniks have had more time to analyze the 2020 NBA draft than any previous year.

Originally scheduled for June, the ongoing pandemic pushed the big night back by five months. While this may cause some teams to overthink their decisions, it gave analysts plenty of time to study all of the top prospects eligible in this class.

This year, players had to participate in a mostly virtual pre-draft process. On the bright side, this meant that teams had the opportunity to interview more candidates than ever before.

However, the number of in-person visits were incredibly limited due to the restrictive parameters set by the league. Similarly, the NBA draft combine was conducted without the typical scrimmages where players can separate themselves from the others with impressive on-court performances.

Overall, the players that stood out in this pre-draft process had a different path to recognition than any other year. College basketball players did not have the opportunity to showcase themselves during March Madness. The nation’s top seniors did not get to participate in the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament.

As such, executives will rely mostly on the existing game footage as well as the intel they gathered during their conversations with the prospects. We also depended on similar strategies, getting access to one-on-one interviews with more than three dozen prospects and exchanging our thoughts with various scouts across the league.

This helped us put together our final big board, looking at the Top 100 players ranked on their potential to make a difference for teams in the NBA.

Relevant statistics were pulled from Synergy Sports Tech, Bart-Torvik, KenPom, Open Look Analytics and RealGM. Note that the age listed for each player references how old they will be on the night of the draft.

NBA draft: Player comparisons for projected first-rounders

One of the most compelling ways to quickly study any draft class is to look at the NBA comparisons for all of the prospects available.

One of the most compelling ways to quickly study any draft class is to look at the NBA comparisons for all of the prospects available.

Now that the 2020 NBA draft is less than two weeks ago, all of the folks looking for a crash course in learning more about the players that will be available for selection can use this as a guide for the potential outlook of each projected first-round draft pick.

This exercise is far from foolproof, of course, considering that outcomes for each prospect will depend heavily on the teams that draft them as well as the roles they are given and the development process that surrounds them.

But this does give a sense of the archetype that each top prospect fits in so casual fans can get a more succinct view of the next generation entering the league.

While our own opinion was also included, we also studied comparison models and surveyed other experts, including conversations with NBA scouts around the league, to give the best context available. The results included were the most common responses.

NOTE: All comparisons pulled from NBADraftcomp.herokuapp.com are based on statistics per 40 minutes. 

2020 NBA aggregate mock draft 8.0: Draft day ranges for top prospects

The 2020 NBA draft is fairly unpredictable and prospects have wider ranges in where they could get selected when it is all said and done. 

The 2020 NBA draft is fairly unpredictable and prospects have wider ranges in where they could get selected when it is all said and done.

We looked at mock drafts from NBADraft.net, ESPN, The Athletic, Bleacher Report, CBS Sports, The Ringer, Stadium, SI.com, USA TODAY Sports Media Group’s Rookie Wire, USA Today and Yahoo to give us a more clear understanding of consensus rankings and projections.

This also provided context for realistic high-end and low-end predictions for the players most often included in mock drafts.

Please note that the range included for each player is not based on our own reporting or intel and it only reflects the data pulled from the various mock drafts.

The full list of our latest aggregate mock draft rankings can be found here. HoopsHype’s Alberto de Roa contributed research to this report.

2020 NBA aggregate mock draft 8.0: Draft day ranges for top prospects

The 2020 NBA draft is fairly unpredictable and prospects have wider ranges in where they could get selected when it is all said and done. 

The 2020 NBA draft is fairly unpredictable and prospects have wider ranges in where they could get selected when it is all said and done.

We looked at mock drafts from NBADraft.net, ESPN, The Athletic, Bleacher Report, CBS Sports, The Ringer, Stadium, SI.com, USA TODAY Sports Media Group’s Rookie Wire, USA Today and Yahoo to give us a more clear understanding of consensus rankings and projections.

This also provided context for realistic high-end and low-end predictions for the players most often included in mock drafts.

Please note that the range included for each player is not based on our own reporting or intel and it only reflects the data pulled from the various mock drafts.

The full list of our latest aggregate mock draft rankings can be found here. HoopsHype’s Alberto de Roa contributed research to this report.

Duke’s Tre Jones interviewed with OKC; wants to learn from Chris Paul

In an NBA Draft media day, Duke guard Tre Jones said that he would love to learn from Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Chris Paul.

As Tre Jones grew up in the 2000s, one of the best point guards in the league was consistently Chris Paul.

Now, the Duke guard has declared for the 2020 NBA Draft, and there’s a route in which he could be teammates with the longtime All-NBA player.

Jones told media that he had an interview with the Oklahoma City Thunder. He thinks it would be highly beneficial to his career to learn from Paul.

“Being able to learn from Chris Paul, there would be nothing like it,” Jones said. “We all know what type of player he is.”

Paul’s ability to lead the team on offense has allowed him to be an All-Star for all these years, but his defense and two-way ability is what makes him stand out from the rest of the crowded position.

That’s something Jones can relate to. Entering this past season at Duke, he had proven that he was one of the better defensive point guards in college. He needed to show his offensive game was developed as well.

In 2019-20, he nearly doubling his scoring average to 16 points per game (it helped that he no longer had Zion Williamson and RJ Barrett demanding the ball), and increased his 3-point shooting from 26% to 36%.

In the media sessions, Jones said he has worked on his mechanics and balance in his jump shot.

He thinks he could keep improving with lessons from the nine-time All-NBA player.

“Being able to learn from one of the all-time great point guards that we’ve seen in our time would definitely be a huge advantage and something that I’d really love to do,” he said.

If the Thunder do draft Jones and keep the corps of the roster as-is, the 20-year-old would fit in as a fourth guard behind Paul, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Dennis Schroder.

His presence would give Oklahoma City a player to develop for when Schroder’s contract expires in 2021 and Paul’s in 2022, should both remain on the team throughout the length of their respective deals.

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