Tre Jones has never been flashy.
He’s the type of player who can melt into a game. That’s the M.O. for a true point guard like Jones, a rare player in a sport that has shifted to favor combo guards and point forwards and every other version of a playmaker.
But Jones doesn’t need to change his style. There’s a reason his teammates look to him for guidance without hesitation. There’s a reason he’s edging out full-time starters for closing minutes. And there’s a reason Billy Donovan uses one word repeatedly — “winner” — to describe Jones.
That winning nature was on full display Wednesday in a 134-118 rout of the New Orleans Pelicans at the United Center. Jones racked up 12 assists while turning the ball over only once in his 12th start of the season. And he did not miss a single shot, sinking a 3-pointer and a floater in the paint and a trio of layups to finish 7-for-7 from the floor. The only shot that came off Jones’ hands and didn’t finish by falling through the net came from the free-throw line, where he made five of his six attempts.
Still, the guard was never the most noticeable player on the court. Jones did not score the most points in Wednesday’s win. That didn’t matter. His impact was more holistic, a steady source of skip passes and drive-and-kick production.
Against the Pelicans, Jones picked up the mantle of operating as the engine for the Bulls offense. The result was the type of win that can reinforce a team’s self-identity, the type to bolster enough confidence that players such as Isaac Okoro leave the court insisting: “We have enough here.”
The Bulls ended 2025 with a string of bad news. The morning of Wednesday’s game, the team announced a long recovery plan for three key players. The medical team will reevaluate Josh Giddey’s left hamstring strain in two weeks, Zach Collins’ right toe sprain in nine days and Coby White’s right calf tightness in a week.
This news could have felt like a death note. Instead, the Bulls responded with one of their more earnest wins of the season, a game that required unique buy-in from the very end of the bench to buoy the loss of the 38.4 combined points and 13.7 combined assists typically supplied by White and Giddey.
Against the Pelicans, the Bulls achieved something close to dominance. Matas Buzelis danced around a defender and launched skyward for a dunk like a stunt double in an action movie. Okoro scored 24 points through a brute insistence in getting to the rim. Eight of the 10 Bulls who made it onto the court finished in double digits.
To maintain this level of ethical, equitable basketball, the Bulls need a facilitator — a conscientious, unselfish playmaker who can read the court and set up teammates at a high level.
Jones fits every inch of this bill. The point guard’s strongest trait is his recognition. Jones understands his role. He doesn’t need to score 20 points every night. He doesn’t need to match White’s 3-point attempts. He doesn’t need to echo Giddey’s prolific scoring.
What the Bulls need from Jones is a motor. A guard unrelenting in pursuit of downhill movement, unflinching in the face of a collapsed defense, constantly scanning for opportunities to spray back out and attack the rim again. And again. And again. He needs to play bigger than his 6-foot-1 frame, get into scraps to force tie-ups when he helps off his own man.
If Jones can keep the offense humming — and the Bulls can continue to support their scoring with a well-balanced output from the entire roster — this team might just make it out of the upcoming stretch relatively unscathed.
“That’s how we’ve been winning with our full team,” Jones said. “That’s our recipe to win. We need everybody on the team.”
Perspective is necessary for the Bulls (16-17). This win came against an eight-win Pelicans team. The schedule is about to get significantly tougher, with five of the next seven games — during which Giddey is expected to be sidelined — coming against teams with winning records. Included in that stretch is a home game Friday against the Orlando Magic, then a trip to face the Boston Celtics on Monday and Eastern Conference-leading Detroit Pistons on Wednesday.
But the celebration was earned. The Bulls won only 40 games in the entirety of 2025 — 24 after the new year last season, 16 this season. This team never should take winning lightly. And the Bulls especially cherish a well-rounded blowout Wednesday that calmed — at least for now — concerns about their depth amid a flurry of injuries.
And when the road gets rougher, the Bulls have located at least one calming force in Jones, whose leadership will be crucial — over the next two weeks and for the rest of the season.
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