Billy Donovan had all he needed to sleep well Monday night.
As the NBA’s free-agent negotiating period opened, the Bulls, wasting no time in giving their coach a player he loved to gush about this past season, agreed to keep point guard Tre Jones on a three-year, $24 million deal.
“He’s got something — he’s got the ‘it’ factor,” Donovan said before the end of the regular season in April. “He really does. He’s just a winner.”
Before a sprained left foot in March cut Jones’ season short, the former Duke standout — who had arrived from the Kings in a three-team trade on Feb. 3 — started nine of 18 games for the Bulls, averaging 11.5 points and 4.9 assists while shooting 50% from three-point range. In his nine starts, he averaged 14.9 points and 7.1 assists. More important, the Bulls went 6-3 in those games.
“You can look at size and length for the position, and he probably doesn’t have any of those things,” Donovan said of Jones, who’s 6-1. “But he has really good speed, he’s really tough, he’s got a high IQ, he understands competition. He can really stay in the moment and compete. He’s got a lot of substance, a lot of competitive character to him.”
Even after trading oft-injured Lonzo Ball to the Cavaliers on Saturday, the Bulls still are loaded up on guards and might not be done dealing. Re-signing restricted free agent Josh Giddey remains a priority, but they might look to trade Coby White or Ayo Dosunmu in order to become a wing-dominant team with more size in the starting lineup.
The Bulls also continue to monitor the trade market for veteran center Nikola Vucevic, but they may have to wait until next February’s trade deadline for a chance to move him.
This draft didn’t have the expected wildness on the trade front, especially in the first round, but there were still those who came out of it feeling good about themselves. Only one team, however, felt “Flagg-ed.”
By Joe Cowley
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The Pacers are the model the Bulls are chasing, and they a took a step in that direction Saturday, trading oft-injured guard Lonzo Ball to the Cavaliers for defensive-minded forward Isaac Okoro.
By Joe Cowley
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Soon Noa Essengue, 18, is going to slide himself into a Bulls uniform, all 6-9, 198 pounds of him. He’ll look confident as well as lost. We’ll look at him with empathy and sympathy.
By Scoop Jackson
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