Last updated: 9/30/2019
Last updated: 9/30/2019
Last updated: 9/30/2019
2025 Free Agents - Tre Jones
Coming out of Duke in 2020, Jones was a first round pick in the minds of many draft evaluators, but he ended up dropping to the second round and was picked 41st overall by San Antonio. Jones didn't get much playing time during his rookie year, but his minutes increased slightly in '21-'22 and he has started almost every game he played in '22-'23. After starting the '23-'24 season coming off the bench, he later was put back in the starting lineup, and the Spurs were much better with him on the court than off. Jones has a little bit more size and athleticism (although still below average for NBA standards) than his older brother, Tyus, but is a lesser shooter. He shot 36% from three his sophomore year in college, but only hit 26% his freshman season. He hardly ever even takes threes, and when he does it has not gone well. So far in his career he has hit 31% of his three-pointers, on low volume. He has shot well enough from two to be decently efficient, including hitting 69% at the rim in '23-'24. Similar to Tyus, Tre also just has nice feel for the game and generally makes the right reads. He shows some nice playmaking ability, and has posted a very good assist rate during his time with the Spurs. He doesn't turn the ball over very often, although his turnover rate has increased the past couple season as he has been asked to take on more of a usage load as the starting point guard. Jones has the potential to be a very good defender. He was the ACC Defensive Player of the year in 2020, and can make an impact both as an on-ball and off-ball defender. He's pesky and does a great job of moving his feet to stay in front of defenders, and also can be disruptive off-the-ball. Jones needs to show he can hit enough shots at a decent rate and create enough separation off-the-dribble in order to establish himself as a legitimate starting-level guard, but I think there's a reasonable possibility he gets there.
Summary
Jones will be an unrestricted free agent with a $17.3 million cap hold and full Bird Rights, meaning the Spurs will have no restrictions on re-signing him. Since Jones's cap hold will likely exceed the starting salary he will get in free agency, his cap hold is not really relevant, as the Spurs will either renounce him or re-sign him and replace his cap hold with his starting salary. If Jones is brought back by the Spurs on a multi-year contract they could benefit from frontloading his contract, as it could give them additional flexibility in the future. Doing so could get into their cap space though. For other teams, if Jones demands a starting salary of more than the full $14.1 million Non-Taxpayer Mid-Level Exception, only teams with cap space will be able to sign him, unless a sign-and-trade is worked out. However, it's likely that Jones could be had for the full MLE or slightly less, including possibly the $5.7 million Taxpayer MLE, which would make him available to almost every team.
Cap Considerations
TJ McConnell (4 years, $34 million, 2022) Miles McBride (3 years, $13 million, 2023) Tyus Jones (2 years, $29 million, 2022)