It took less than 90 minutes for VP of Basketball Operations Arturas Karnisovas to make his first move in free agency as the Chicago Bulls (wisely) re-signed point guard Tre Jones to a three-year, $24 million contract, per Shams Charania of ESPN. The deal comes just two days after the franchise traded point guard Lonzo Ball to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Keeping Jones in Chicago seemed like a no-brainer, and it's comforting to know the team's front office felt the same.
Re-signing Tre Jones was an obvious, under-the-radar move for the Bulls
Jones arrived in Chicago at last year's trade deadline in the three-team deal that sent Zach LaVine to the Sacramento Kings. He was on a one-year, $9.9 million expiring contract and had averaged 8.4 points and 4.7 assists while shooting just 31.1 percent from three over his first five NBA seasons. He was far from a lock to return.
His production took a major leap, however, once he earned a spot in Bulls Head Coach Billy Donovan's rotation. In 18 games with Chicago, nine of them starts, he averaged 11.5 points, 3.2 rebounds and 4.9 assists in 25.3 minutes per game with shooting splits of 57/50/88. It was by far the best stretch of Jones' career.
He missed time with a left foot strain but proved capable of playing a critical role for Donovan. With Ball in Cleveland, Jones, only 25 years old, will step into the reserve point guard spot behind Josh Giddey, who's a restricted free agent, if he returns to Chicago.
"When you talk about a guy you want to have for 82 nights—and I’m not saying he's always perfect—but he understands competition," Donovan said at the conclusion of last season, according to Bleacher Report's Timothy Rapp. "He understands what goes into it. That's what you want."