The Case For Tre Jones As Spurs' Starting Point Guard
Second-round picks haven't panned out well for the San Antonio Spurs in the past decade. Third-year guard Tre Jones is making sure that notion doesn't stick.
In fact, Jones' total career points with the Spurs (507) is coming close to reaching the total that nine of the last 10 Spurs second-round draft picks combined to score with the franchise (716). One could even make the argument that he's the best second-round pick the Spurs have made since selecting DeJuan Blair 37th overall in 2009.
Jones enters his third season with a near guarantee to see an increased role. With Dejounte Murray now with the Atlanta Hawks, there's a void to fill at the starting point guard spot.
Since the blockbuster trade that sent Murray to Atlanta, fans have clamored for more Josh Primo, with the expectation from some that he can step in at the lead-guard spot. However, Jones showed last season that his skillset is better suited for the starting role.
Primo has more promising scoring upside than Jones. From shot-creation, 3-point shooting, one-on-one potential, and a body that only continues to grow, the young Spurs prodigy has future star written all over.
But what might seem like the sexy choice might not be the right choice - at least not yet.
For the beginning of next season, Jones should be tasked with starting point guard duties. Does this mean he's better than Primo? No. Both are different kind of guards in their own right. But Jones' strengths could be suited better for a starting five that will already consist of Devin Vassell and Keldon Johnson as primary scoring options.
Primo's versatile bucket-getting ability could prove to be a better fit in a sixth-man role off the bench until he's shown he can match Jones' ability to orchestrate the offense, something the former Duke Blue Devil did well in the later parts of last season.
Jones averaged six points, 2.2 rebounds, and 3.4 assists in 16.6 minutes last year. He might not be the guard fans want to see take away minutes from Primo this upcoming season, but with with 69 appearances and 11 starts last season, he's a likely candidate to get the starting nod.
Case for Jones as Starting Point Guard
The Duke product's strength lies in his overall efficiency, intelligent decision-making, and the quickness in the open floor and in half-court sets. He's on the smaller side at 6-1, 185, but appears bigger due to his fearless finishes at the rim and underrated athleticism to avoid the shot-blocker.
Jones got most of his minutes throughout the year against opposing bench players, but showed he can blow by defenders with limited dribbles in order to get to the rim. He falls in love with getting the defender on his hip to eliminate him from the action, but it's an intelligent, yet simple strategy. If he draws help defense because of this, he's quick to make a kick-out, or dish it down to the big man. Not being intent on producing scoring opportunities for himself is a prime reason why Jones has managed to fall into favor with Popovich.
Despite having an increased workload to end the regular season, Jones' turnover numbers didn't shoot up. This is quite a promising sign for his ability to run the offense effectively for the foreseeable future. Three turnovers is his career-high through two seasons.
In the final seven regular-season games, Jones never played less than 17 minutes and even had five-straight games of 30 minutes or more. And still, he only committed five total turnovers in that span and had zero turnovers in five of those contests.
He also scored in double figures in the final six games of the regular season and proved he can do it at an efficient rate. Jones led all qualified Spurs guards in field-goal percentage (49 percent).
Case Against Jones as Starting Point Guard
The drawback to starting Jones is that he doesn't have a consistent jumper right now, something that has become almost necessary to be a starting point guard in the NBA. Sure, he's capable of making them when open, but that's just not his game. He went just 10-51 from 3-point range last season, as he prefers to swing to the open man or drive to the cup to get his points.
As he continues to get more minutes, Jones will need to develop a midrange game as he goes up against better shot-blocking bigs that will take away his biggest strength: hard drives to the rim.
Only 8.5 percent of his points last season came from midrange. He doesn't have to become an elite shooter from this area right away, but putting pressure on the drop man to step up and contest would open up opportunities for Jones to display his quick passing skills or knock down the shot when left open.
As previously mentioned, his smaller size isn't a huge drawback on offense due to his speed in the open floor. And though he's proved this quickness can also help him come up with sneaky steals, his overall defense impact is limited due to his size, especially in a Southwest Division loaded with stars in the backcourt.
For example, as a starter, Jones will have to go up against primary ball-handlers like Luka Doncic, Ja Morant, Jalen Green, and C.J McCollum multiple times next season. All four have Jones beat on height and weight. Of course, Jones wouldn't be tasked with being the primary defender against guys like Doncic or McCollum. This assignment would likely fall to Devin Vassell or potentially Jeremy Sochan. But if matched up against them, Jones could likely be put into a position where help defense is needed despite his greatest efforts.
Guarding Morant and Green will be a bit easier due to their skinnier frame, but the long and athletic strides of both will be hard for Jones to keep up with on a consistent basis. Overall, some of the league's best young guards play in San Antonio's division and will experience little defense resistance from a small guard like Jones, who can easily have the ball passed over his head from passing wizards like Doncic and Morant.
But as long as he continues to be a pest on defense and make the right play on offense, it's hard to say he won't be the starting point guard next season barring an unexpected free agency signing.
You can follow Zach Dimmitt on Twitter at @ZachDimmitt7
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