San Antonio Spurs Season Preview: Can Tre Jones Excel in New Role?

With a new role, Tre Jones can excel as the Sixth Man for the San Antonio Spurs this season.

Tre Jones will be playing a familiar role for the San Antonio Spurs this season: backup point guard. The fourth-year Duke product has played two full seasons with the Spurs. Last year, in the wake of the Dejounte Murray trade, Jones stepped into the starting role for the first time.

The results were mixed. Yes, he is solid on defense and hardly ever turns the ball over, but his shooting and scoring contributions were called into question. He has never been a threat from deep, and in the modern NBA hoisting floaters is not enough to carve out a role as a full-time starter.

Fortunately, despite his faults, Jones is very good at everything else. He is one of the most underrated perimeter defenders in the league, and he and his brother Tyus are among the NBA’s best ballhandlers, despite rarely showing Kyrie-level handles. Over his three seasons, Jones has averaged 7.9 points, 4.1 assists, 2.4 rebounds, and just under a STOCK. Despite a renewed confidence last season, he is yet to shoot above 30% from the arc.

Jones drives to the basket against former teammate Drew Eubanks.  / Scott Wachter-USA TODAY Sports

Jones is under contract through next season, and 2023-24 will be very telling regarding the Spurs’ plans for him in the future. If he is the first man off the bench, expect him to play with the starters come crunch time. His reliability when it comes to moving the rock to scorers is understated, and when he’s surrounded by scorers like Victor Wembanyama, Devin Vassell, and Keldon Johnson, he can put the ball in the right hands.

He is a victim of the positionless basketball the Spurs are touting out this season. He is very much a traditional point guard: reliable, stable, and not very exciting. On a young team, having a steady hand like that is very important, and he will get plenty of minutes off the bench.

While Jones’ lack of scoring hinders his odds of winning Sixth Man of the Year, he will surely take home the interclub honors for that award. The Spurs are coming into the season looking to experiment and try new things, and the organization is already familiar with what Jones brings to the table.