Tre Jones has become the kind of guard front offices notice before fans do. He doesn’t hijack games, and he doesn’t usually leave chaos in his wake.
What he does bring is steadiness, timing and a knack for showing up exactly where a possession needs him. That sort of reliability matters even more when it comes with a team-friendly $8 million AAV contract.
That contract is a big reason Jones’ future in Chicago feels complicated. Unless he signs another extension with the understanding that it would be moved again right away, it’s tough to see him getting a fresh deal with the Bulls. If he is still on the roster past the 2026-27 NBA season, he would be playing that year on an expiring $8 million team option.
The bigger issue for Chicago is timing. Jones may be too useful, both on the floor and on the cap sheet, for the Bulls to simply hold onto him through the 2027 NBA trade deadline.
That’s where Bulls lead front office executive Bryson Graham comes in. His first major formal test in the job should be how he handles his first trade deadline, and the expectation is clear: make the hard call on valuable veterans like Jones instead of letting their value shrink by waiting too long.
If Chicago does decide to move him, there should be no shortage of interest. Three teams, in particular, stand out as fits.
The Houston Rockets would make a lot of sense. After trying to cover for the 2025-26 season-long absence of Fred VanVleet’s ball-handling with Amen Thompson’s elite and intense athleticism, Houston could use a steadier hand.
Jones would give the Rockets exactly that, along with defensive playmaking that would likely win over head coach Ime Udoka quickly. He would also help create cleaner looks for Kevin Durant and Alperen Sengun by consistently getting into the paint.
The source even raises the question of whether Houston would consider sending Reed Sheppard the other way.
Dallas is another obvious landing spot. The Mavericks are thin when Kyrie Irving is off the floor, and Jones would immediately patch that hole. He could also serve as a practical bridge if Dallas decides to move on from Irving, who will enter the final season of his contract after the 2026-27 season ends.
Then there’s Golden State, where the basketball fit is obvious even if the salary math gets messy. The Warriors are close to the second apron, so getting Jones would not be simple from a cap standpoint.
But the appeal is clear: they need as much talent as they can get to support the twilight of Stephen Curry’s prime. Jones’ San Antonio Spurs background also makes him a natural fit for Steve Kerr’s offense, which blends elements of Gregg Popovich’s beautiful basketball and Tex Winter’s triangle principles.
If the Bulls ever talked trade with Golden State, the prize Chicago would be chasing is Brandin Podziemski.
In Other News...
Josh Giddey Faces A Defining Bulls Fit Test This Season
Josh Giddey is heading into his third season with the Bulls with something bigger than a contract year or a box score check-in hanging over him. Chicagos front office and coaching staff are pushing a new offensive philosophy built around pace and ball movement, and that puts Giddey in the middle of a familiar modern NBA question: how much on-ball responsibility should a player keep when the system wants the ball moving faster and more often? For a team still trying to define its identity, his fit could be one of the clearest early signs of whether the approach is working.
The challenge for Giddey is less about talent than usage, and that is where the season gets interesting. Chicago does not need him to be the same kind of possession-starter on every trip if the offense is going to look the way the staff wants, which means the next step is finding the right balance between creating and complementing. If he can settle into that role cleanly, the Bulls may have a better answer for what their new offense is supposed to be. [Read more 🡒]
Bulls Enter Camp With One Health Question Still Lingering
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For Chicago, the larger issue is less about the star power and more about how many bodies are ready to go once camp begins. Josh Giddey has no restrictions after offseason ankle surgery, which helps settle one question, but there is still at least one lingering concern in camp as the Bulls get set to start Tuesday. Of the teams health questions, this is the one that could matter most if it stretches into the preseason. [Read more 🡒]
Bulls Just Sent A Clear Message About Where This Front Office Is Headed
The Bulls keep signaling a shift toward a younger, more modern basketball operations structure, and their latest move fits that pattern. Michael Reinsdorf announced the hiring of Bryson Graham into the front office, adding another voice to the basketball operations department as Chicago continues reshaping the way it staffs key decision-making roles.
Graham arrives with experience that should matter right away, having spent much of his career with the Pelicans before a run as vice president of basketball operations with the Hawks. For a Bulls organization trying to reset its internal direction, the hire says plenty about the kind of profile it is now targeting, even if the broader picture of how this new group will ultimately take shape is still coming into focus. [Read more 🡒]