Tre Jones, Bulls Reportedly Agree to 3-Year, $24M Contract After Lonzo Ball Trade

The Chicago Bulls are staying in the Tre Jones business.

According to ESPN's Shams Charania, Jones and the Bulls agreed to terms on a three-year, $24 million contract on Monday, just days after Chicago traded Lonzo Ball to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Jones, 25, was a second-round selection of the San Antonio Spurs in the 2020 NBA draft. In parts of five seasons with the Spurs he averaged 8.2 points and 4.7 assists, shooting 48.1 percent from the field and 30.2 percent from three.

He was traded to Chicago this past season alongside Kevin Huerter and Zach Collins as part of the three-team deal with the Spurs and Sacramento Kings that landed De'Aaron Fox in San Antonio and Zach LaVine in Sacramento.

He played fantastic in Chicago, albeit in a limited sample size, averaging 11.5 points and 4.9 assists in 18 games while shooting 50 percent from three. While a left foot sprain cost him time late in the season, he proved to be an effective depth piece for the Bulls and a strong candidate to be retained in free agency.

Now the Bulls have Jones and combo guard Coby White under contract, and they have a decision to make regarding restricted free agent Josh Giddey.

Head coach Billy Donovan will clearly be glad to see Jones back.

"I know he's going into free agency and we'll see how that plays out," he told reporters in March. "But 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. He understands what goes into it. That's what you want."