{"id":44616,"date":"2025-03-19T07:09:21","date_gmt":"2025-03-19T07:09:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=44616"},"modified":"2025-03-19T07:09:21","modified_gmt":"2025-03-19T07:09:21","slug":"bulls-face-sudden-big-picture-concern-with-surging-starter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=44616","title":{"rendered":"Bulls Face Sudden \u2018Big-Picture Concern\u2019 With Surging Starter"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"post-featured-container-id\">\n<div id=\"post-featured\">\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bleachernation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/OKC-Zach-LaVine.jpg\" alt=\"Chicago Bulls Notes: LaVine's Weird Journey, Keeping the 2025 Pick, Reese's  Streak, More\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Chicago Bulls head coach Billy Donovan looks on against the Indiana Pacers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The Chicago Bulls are 5-1 over their last six games despite a litany of injuries, particularly to their backcourt. Fortunately for the Bulls, former San Antonio Spurs guard and trade deadline acquisition Tre Jones was ready to step up.<\/p>\n<p>Jones, a budding favorite of head coach Billy Donovan\u2019s, recorded his first double-double with the Bulls, posting 18 points and 12 assists in a win over the Utah Jazz on March 17.<\/p>\n<p>According to the Chicago Sun-Times\u2019 Joe Cowley, Jones\u2019 success is a double-edged sword.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor Jones, this is his type of team and offense. Coming over from San Antonio, they played fast, but it wasn\u2019t exactly smash the turbo button on the controller like it is for the Bulls. This is a style of basketball he\u2019s played his whole life,\u201d Cowley wrote on March 18.\u00a0 \u201cBut for how long? That\u2019s suddenly a big-picture concern that the organization has to start adding to a long list of concerns beyond this season.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"74956da1a9607071efb572970fd89e83\">\n<div>\n<article>First Bulls double-double for Tre \ud83d\udc4f<\/p>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Jones has led the Bulls to a 5-2 mark filling in as a starter with Ayo Dosunmu, Josh Giddey, and Lonzo Ball all sidelined, averaging 15.3 points, 6.9 assists, 4.7 rebounds, and 1.3 steals. He could draw significant interest as an unrestricted free agent during the 2025 offseason.<\/p>\n<p>Jones has started 132 of his 295 career appearances.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Tre Jones Praises Teammates Amid Surge<\/h2>\n<p>For now, Jones is focused on this season and helping the Bulls win as many games as possible with the playoff rapidly approaching.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy teammates are playing well,\u201d Jones said, per NBA.com\u2019s Sam Smith on March 18. \u201cThat\u2019s what\u2019s working for me. I go off of them, just trying to do everything I can to help this team win. We\u2019re winning right now, so we\u2019ve got to keep this thing going.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Jones specifically lauded Coby White, the Eastern Conference Player of the Week.<\/p>\n<div id=\"d49afcc7217f2f09415c1f3681267597\">\n<div>\n<article>\u201cIt\u2019s a big reason why Coby White is your reigning Eastern Conference Player of the Week.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>White has scored 20-plus points in nine straight games entering play on March 19. He has averaged a 28.4\/5.1\/3.9 line with Jones as his starting backcourt mate.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMuch better playing alongside (Coby White) than against him for sure,\u201d Jones said, per Smith. \u201cHe plays the right way; he plays winning basketball. He\u2019s unselfish and we\u2019ve got to push him even more to shoot the ball. It\u2019s been amazing playing alongside Coby.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Bulls\u2019 Logjam Could Push Tre Jones Out of Chicago<\/h2>\n<p>The Bulls\u2019 decision on Jones could come down to the numbers game with their plethora of guards, one of whom will join Jones in free agency if his situation is not addressed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGiddey is due a large payday 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),\u201d Cowley wrote. \u201cNot just a logjam of guards, but ball-handlers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Giddey is expected to seek $30 million annually on his next contract.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCap space possible, but non-taxpayer mid-level exception is much more likely,\u201d HoopsHype\u2019s Mark Deeks wrote in February.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGiddey will enter restricted free agency with a $25,057,101 cap hold that wipes out any space under the $154 million salary cap; the only way to get that space back is to renounce Giddey\u2019s rights, essentially making him unre-signable.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey did not trade Alex Caruso for him, then watch him turn into a Reggie Miller-esque shooter out of nowhere, just to then let him walk, so this will not happen,\u201d Deeks wrote. \u201cSince it will not, the Bulls will essentially enter this summer with a full non-taxpayer mid-level exception, and need to hit another Caruso-like home run with it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Whether the Bulls view Jones as worth a potential $13.5 million price tag remains unclear.<\/p>\n<p>Josh Buckhalter covers the NBA and NFL for Heavy.com. He has covered both leagues since 2016, including bylines at FanSided, Last Word on Sports and Clocker Sports. He&#8217;s based in Villa Park, Illinois. Follow Josh on Twitter and Instagram: @JoshGBuck More about Josh Buckhalter<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Chicago Bulls have gotten unexpected contributions from reserve point guard Tre Jones as he heads to unrestricted free agency.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":44620,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44616","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-football"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Bulls Face Sudden \u2018Big-Picture Concern\u2019 With Surging Starter - News 365<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=44616\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bulls Face Sudden \u2018Big-Picture Concern\u2019 With Surging Starter - 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