Milwaukee Bucks reportedly among teams who’ve talked with Tre Jones

As the number of prospects the Milwaukee Bucks have reportedly interviewed with continues to rise, Duke guard Tre Jones has now been added to that mix.

The little bits of information regarding the Milwaukee Bucks and meeting with various prospects in this year’s draft continues to trickle out in recent days.

After being pushed back as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, this year’s NBA Draft Combine is officially underway and prospects have opened to NBA media about the various NBA teams they have met over this unprecedented process.

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The latest example revolves around sophomore guard Tre Jones, who is less than two months away from achieving his goal of playing in the NBA.

Taking a Zoom call with reporters Tuesday afternoon to go over his experience of this unique pre-draft process, Jones mentioned the Bucks as one of the numerous teams he’s talked with over the last several months as Alex Kennedy of BasketballNews.com tweeted out.

And with Jones believing his range is from the middle to late in the first round, that falls firmly within range of where the Bucks stand in the order with the 24th overall pick, which they acquired from the Indiana Pacers last offseason.

ESPN currently ranks Jones 34th on their top-100 board while The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie ($$) ranked the Duke product 18th on his most recent Big Board. And Jones averaged 16.2 points on .423/.361/.771 shooting splits, 6.4 assists, 4.2 rebounds and 1.8 steals across his 29 appearances in Durham in his sophomore season.

A steady floor general through and through, there are plenty of overlapping qualities between what Jones brings to the table and the needs the Bucks are seeking to address this offseason.

Jones possesses a polished skill package and playmaking vision that will equip himself well with initiating an NBA team’s offense off the bench upon making the jump. And not for nothing, but Jones’ sturdy defensive presence, headlined by his excellent footwork and savviness guarding the perimeter, looks to be a tremendous asset at the next level.

The biggest question that Jones has to address, and he’s surely been hard at work since declaring for the draft last spring, is being able to maintain his jump in efficiency when shooting from three. Jones’ 3-point percentage was one-tenth away from jumping 10 full percentage points in that department from his freshman and sophomore campaigns during his time at Duke.

Being the slightly undersized shot creator that he is, Jones’ long range shooting ability is clearly the swing skill that will ultimately define the trajectory of his NBA career. Whether the Bucks would be willing to bet on the Minnesota native to bring the high-level shooting and playmaking they need in their backcourt is the big question.

All eyes have turned to the Bucks’ backcourt and how vastly different it could look at the start of next season, given trade rumors surrounding Eric Bledsoe and the dearth of point guards and ball handlers on their depth chart. From that point, the Bucks have already keyed in on multi-dimensional ball handlers and scorers during this draft process as they’ve been linked to Stanford guard Tyrell Terry as well as Marquette star Markus Howard.

Jones doesn’t exactly belong in the same class as those explosive scorers like Howard and Terry, but his blend of sturdiness and two-way abilities will lead to the start of his NBA career starting November 18. We’ll see if Jones’ skill set ultimately attracts the Bucks beyond surface-level interest.