In the preseason opener, Tre Jones came off the bench for the Bulls and helped spearhead the win after a slow start by the first unit.
On Thursday, he was in the starting lineup in the rematch against the Cavaliers, again doing whatever was asked of him.
There’s a reason the Bulls quickly jumped on re-signing Jones to a three-year, $24 million deal in the offseason, and it continued to be on display in the last week alone. He’s a do-whatever-it-takes, no-nonsense player, who coach Billy Donovan continues to insist has that “it” factor.
“He just kinds of makes things happen,” Donovan said of Jones. “He finds guys on cuts, back cuts, he gets to the basket. He’s very calm, got a good IQ, and yeah, I kind of said it last year, he’s got that ‘it’ factor. He just makes plays.”
There’s a reason why Lonzo Ball became expendable for the Isaac Okoro trade, and a healthy Jones played a significant factor in it.
While he doesn’t have the defensive disruption that Ball may have, he is a pest on the defensive side of the floor, as well as being a high-IQ, pass-first point guard much like Ball was. More importantly, the hope is he’ll be more available to fulfill that role.
“That’s definitely what I pride myself on, just impact winning,” Jones said of how he views his job on the roster. “It might not be points, rebounds, assists, and it might not even show up in the box score, but I mean just trying to do what I can to help the team by putting us in the best position to win games.
“It might be guarding one night, it might be scoring one night, it might be just finding guys and those things. Do whatever I can when I’m out there.”
And even better news for the Bulls? Jones spent his first five seasons in San Antonio, so has a full understanding of sacrificing for the good of the team. He also knows when he’s part of a good product on the court and feels like this Bulls roster can sneak up on the Eastern Conference.
“We have a really good group and I feel like we’re really coming together early in the year,” Jones said. “You don’t always get that feeling.”
**White out**
There haven’t been significant changes in the progress of Coby White and his calf strain, but more importantly there haven’t been any setbacks.
That’s why Donovan is still holding out hope that White will be ready for the regular-season opener in less than two weeks.
“The biggest challenge we have is any time you have a lower leg issue like that, he can do whatever he can do conditioning-wise, but with the way we’re trying to play and how much time he’s missed, he’s going to need a significant ramp-up,” Donovan said of White. “He may be able to physically go out there and play, but I think they’ll monitor where he’s at with his conditioning.”
**Street clothes**
Call it being overly cautious for the preseason.
That’s why Nikola Vucevic, Kevin Huerter and Julian Phillips were each held out of the Thursday game with the Cavs.
For Vucevic it was just a scheduled rest day, while Huerter was dealing with a minor groin tweak and Phillips had a sore knee. Donovan expected each of them back for Sunday’s game.