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Stellar PG defender could possibly be a draft choice for Sixers initially appeared on NBC Sports activities Philadelphia
Our scouting report on NBA draft prospect Tre Jones:
- Place: Level guard
- Top: 6-foot-3
- Weight: 185 kilos
- Faculty: Duke
Wanting on the 2020 NBA draft prospects, there won’t be a participant that has been extra carefully scrutinized than Tre Jones. Such is life if you’re the purpose guard at Duke.
A have a look at Jones’ two years in Durham is a research in contrasts. In his first season, he performed Ringo in a Fab 4 freshman class that included Zion Williamson, RJ Barrett and Cam Reddish. (Apologies to Joey Baker for not being included in that group.) Oftentimes, Jones would defer to his extra distinguished teammates to the purpose of disappearing offensively in video games.
Jones was the lone member of that unit to return to highschool for a sophomore season. The Minnesota native emerged because the staff’s chief and most full participant en path to incomes ACC Participant of the Yr and Defensive Participant of the Yr honors. Solely Shane Battier and Malcolm Brogdon have completed that double this century.
However how does Jones’ sport translate to the NBA? Let’s study his strengths and weaknesses:
Strengths
Wonderful defender: Jones earned that Defensive Participant of the Yr award on benefit. The very best instance of his prowess on protection got here in his final school sport, a 13-point win over rival North Carolina. In that contest, Jones positioned the clamps on doubtless lottery decide Cole Anthony. The UNC star scored simply 9 factors on 4 of 14 capturing whereas including solely three assists in 39 minutes.
You’ll be able to rely the variety of on-ball defenders who had been higher than Jones within the NCAA final season on one hand. That stated, the 6-foot-3 guard must proceed to develop power if he’s going to disrupt NBA-caliber level guards on a constant foundation.
Embraces the second: As talked about above, the affable Jones willingly performed facilitator in his freshman season. However in his second season, Mike Krzyzewski and the Blue Devils counted on Jones to take the staff’s large photographs. Clearly, one might level to the game-tying buzzer beater in Duke’s different sport with North Carolina final season as proof of that. However there have been numerous occasions in 2020 when Jones learn the second and made a play when his staff wanted it.
Jones is not going to be a major offensive choice within the NBA, however his protection has the chance to maintain him on the ground on the finish of video games. He received’t be afraid to take and make large photographs in these situations.
Weaknesses
Taking pictures: Tre is definitely the second Jones to make his approach by Duke lately. His brother Tyus, you could recall, starred for the 2015 nationwide champions alongside Jahlil Okafor. Tyus displayed quite a lot of offensive weapons in his lone season at Duke. The youthful Jones is barely extra restricted on the offensive aspect of the ball, particularly when evaluating the 2 as shooters.
Tre shot over 42 % from the sphere as a sophomore, a tick up from his freshman marketing campaign. However the place he actually improved was as a three-point shooter, going from 26.2 level to 36.1 %. Jones might want to proceed to enhance that a part of his sport, as a result of NBA coaches are going to assist off him initially and drive him to hit open photographs.
To his credit score, Jones is an efficient free throw shooter (over 75 % from the foul line in each seasons at Duke), and he will get higher in that division late in video games.
Ball dealing with: A keen passer and good determination maker, Jones is the kind of participant you wish to play alongside. However he’s not some extent guard that may get wherever he needs off the dribble. He’ll want screens in an effort to constantly get into the paint as an NBA participant.
His deal with can also be somewhat free for a participant of his dimension. That didn’t value him a lot in school, however it is going to be a special story subsequent season.
Match
Chances are high that Jones will doubtless fall to the underside a part of the draft’s first spherical, and that is likely to be a blessing in disguise for the 20-year previous. He’ll by no means be the kind of participant that may change a franchise. However Jones has the potential to be a match for an excellent staff just like the Sixers, initially as an eighth or ninth man. One might see Jones offering succesful protection whereas taking some minutes as a lead ball handler when Ben Simmons wants a relaxation. He’d additionally present the potential for giving the Sixers a ridiculous shutdown lineup of Jones, Simmons, Matisse Thybulle, Joel Embiid and some other participant you’d like.
In a best-case situation, the Duke star turns into Kyle Lowry, a tenacious defender that runs his staff and does sufficient offensively to be an element. But when he doesn’t grow to be a greater offensive participant, he is likely to be relegated to NBA journeyman. I’d wager Jones finally ends up as a stable contributor to playoff groups for the higher a part of the following decade.
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