Taking a look at Tre Jones as a Minnesota Timberwolves draft prospect

With the Minnesota Timberwolves tracking towards another high draft pick, it’s time to begin looking at prospects who will be available come draft time in June.

Could the younger brother of former Minnesota Timberwolves guard Tyus Jones be an option in June’s NBA Draft?

Tre Jones is in the midst of another solid season at Duke. He’s currently averaging 15.8 points and 6.6 assists per game with improved shooting splits — 44.6 percent from the field and 32.5 percent from 3-point range. He has a fairly similar playing style to his brother and could potentially help the Wolves.

The latest mock draft from NBAdraft.net mock draft has Jones falling into the second round and he could make a lot of sense as Minnesota’s second round draft choice. ESPN’s Jonathan Givony has Jones at No. 30, the final pick of the first round (ESPN+ subscription required).

Right now, the only non-D’Angelo Russell point guard is Jordan McLaughlin, who is signed to a two-way deal but isn’t under contract beyond this season. If he keeps playing like he has lately, however, he’ll have a job with someone in the NBA next year, whether it’s the Wolves or someone else.

Even if McLaughlin were to sign beyond this year, Jones may still be a viable option as a change-of-pace guard.

Selecting on a steady, cheap, and reliable backup point guard in the draft could be helpful. If they strike gold, that backup would be one that would be on a multi-year deal on the rookie scale.

The Wolves have struggled with creating on the offensive end, and having Tre in the fold could help with that. The only reliable creators on the roster presently are Russell, Karl-Anthony Towns, James Johnson, and to a lesser extent, Malik Beasley and McLaughlin. Having another player that could competently run an NBA offense would be a nice plus, especially if Minnesota doesn’t draft a guard with their early first-round pick.

Another thing that the young guard from Apple Valley, Minnesota could bring to the table is defense. He is a strong defender and could help balance the Russell/Beasley backcourt. Jones, in his year and a half at Duke, has averaged nearly two steals a game and has posted a defensive boxscore plus-minus of about 3.5.

Fortunately for Minnesota, there’s still a good bit of basketball left this season to evaluate McLaughlin and potentially sign him to a long-term deal, as well as scout Jones more.

It’s nice to be worried about back up point guard and not starting point guard as a fan nowadays though, isn’t it?