PHOENIX – The noise of acknowledgement and immediate smirk said it all for Tre Jones.
“Mmmm,” the Bulls guard leaked out as the standings update was presented to him just minutes after he dropped 18 points and handed out 12 assists in the win over the Jazz.
Not information that was necessary because Jones knew exactly where he and his teammates stood in the Eastern Conference, jumping Miami to grab the No. 9 seed late Monday night.
“We’re definitely talking about it,” Jones said with a grin. “We know what seed we are, how many games back of the other teams we are and things like that, especially this time of year. Things are shuffling around, especially with us winning right now. We’re able to climb those rankings a little bit so try and keep this thing going and see where we end up.”
That’s the mindset for Jones right now. Maybe the reason he’s grabbing this opportunity with the Bulls since coming over in the Zach LaVine three-team trade and running with it. Check that, sprinting with it.
Jones, who is in the final year of a contract that paid him $9.1 million this season, knows that everything can change tomorrow. The standings, his playing time, heck, soon enough even what team he might be on.
That’s why for him it truly is one possession at a time, one game at a time, and not just some cliché players like to spout out.
Since seeing his playing time increase and becoming a starter in the wake of injuries to Ayo Dosunmu (season-ending shoulder surgery), Lonzo Ball (wrist) and Josh Giddey (ankle), Jones has helped the Bulls rattle off a 5-2 record thanks to 15.3 points and 6.9 assists per game.
Giddey is expected back on Wednesday or Thursday, but Jones isn’t going anywhere as far as his role on the team.
If Ball returns that’s when it would get interesting, but for now Jones is a keeper.
If it was up to coach Billy Donovan, beyond just the remainder of the season.
Donovan covets high-IQ, low-turnover point guards. Jones is the poster boy for both. Then factor in how he’s embraced the Bulls run-and-gun style of play, and it’s no wonder that Donovan is constantly gushing about the new addition to the roster.
“He’s really smart, he’s got a good feel, and for the most part he’s a really low-turnover guy,” Donovan said of Jones. “He takes really good care (of the ball). He’s got really good vision, he sees the game. He gets into the lane and a lot of times for his size he knows the shots to take in the lane and the ones to dribble through and create actions for other guys.”
Donovan’s type of guard.
And for Jones, this is his type of team and offense. Coming over from San Antonio, they played fast, but it wasn’t exactly smash the turbo button on the controller like it is for the Bulls. This is a style of basketball he’s played his whole life.
“I think it fits perfectly,” Jones said. “Just being able to get up and down in transition, it opens up lanes for myself to get downhill, and I’m able to find guys once I get into the paint. We can just play off of that. And also just wearing teams down throughout the game. It fits my game perfectly.”
But for how long? That’s suddenly a big-picture concern that the organization has to start adding to a long list of concerns beyond this season.
Giddey is due a large pay day with an extension, Coby White and Dosunmu are signed through next season, and Ball was extended for two more years (the second year is a team option). Not just a logjam of guards, but ball-handlers.
And the other question would be how would the Bulls squeeze Jones in and stay under the cap? Wanting to keep him and able to keep him could become two very different scenarios.
A discussion for another day as far as Jones was concerned.
After all, there’s standings to still climb and worth every smirk along the way.