Tre Jones had an excellent 2025-26 season, one that should earn him a crack at a starting role in 2027.
Out of the Chicago Bulls top-10 most played lineups last season, the best--in terms of Net Rating--was the five-man grouping of Tre Jones-Coby White-Josh Giddey-Matas Buzelis-Nikola Vucevic, which posted a Net Rating of +8.7 over an extremely small seven-game sample size.
That Jones-White-Giddey-Vucevic-Buzelis group posted an offensive rating of 115.6 and a defensive rating of 106.8. The defense holding up so well is shocking, but the offensive efficiency being so high makes sense on paper.
Giddey, White and Vucevic are all solid 3-point shooters, while Buzelis is below-average but improving as a finisher, and Jones is as good of a playmaker as Giddey but without the same turnover issues (19% turnover rate for Giddey compared to 11% for Jones).
The case for starting Jones starts there: ball security.
One thing you are almost guaranteed to struggle with in terms of rookie players is turnover concerns. Limiting turnovers will be of even more importance when you consider the fact that the Bulls will be looking to develop Caleb Wilson into a player you can depend on offensively at the end of games.
Chicago struggled last year, finishing with a 31-51 record and a Net Rating of -5.3 (per NBA.com). Obviously, a team that has a negative net rating is going to have a bunch of different negative lineup combinations.
But the three-man grouping of Tre Jones, Josh Giddey and Matas Buzelis posted a -0.4 net rating, a figure held up by a great 110.2 defensive rating.
Jones is a bulldog when it comes to perimeter defense. He doesn't possess amazing positional size at 6-foot-1, 185 lbs., but he uses his quick hands and footspeed to contain most opposing point guards. Jones led the Bulls with 76 total steals over 65 games, more than 20 steals ahead of second place (Buzelis with 55 steals).
With Jones and Giddey focused on generating good looks for everyone else on the floor, Buzelis, Wilson and Nic Claxton would be able to solely focus on screening and cutting. There is also a nice synergy between the Jones-Giddey pairing.
I have been vocal online about enjoying when Giddey plays next to another ballhandler. The look is intriguing because of how unselfish Giddey, and the pure speed possessed by Jones.
For a team that looked to get out in transition early and often--and will likely continue to play that way despite a coaching change--having two guards who are excellent playmakers makes a coaches job easier on a game-to-game basis. Jones posted a 29% assist rate last season, while Giddey posted an absurdly impressive 41% assist rate.
Jones and Giddey in the backcourt together to start games would ensure that No. 4 overall pick Caleb Wilson is being set up to get the ball in his preferred areas of the floor at the start of the games. And new addition Norman Powell would be free to come off the bench and look to score aggressively, instantly becoming a legitimate candidate for 6th Man of the Year.
Starting Tre Jones make seem counterintuitive on paper, but it would ensure some familiarity among Chicago's starting group, while helping the Bulls (7th in 2026) stay among the top-10 teams in assist rate.
