After star is traded, Apple Valley's Tre Jones gets expanded role with Spurs

The NBA schedule makers did Tre Jones a favor this season.

Instead of coming in and out on quick trips to Minnesota, the Spurs got into town Sunday and stayed through Wednesday night as they played two games against the Timberwolves.

That meant the Spurs guard and Apple Valley native got to spend some extended time with his family instead of just a little while.

"It definitely works out as far as maximizing the time at home," Jones said.

Minnesota is getting to see Jones in his new, expanded role as the Spurs' starting point guard. After San Antonio took him with the 41st overall pick in the 2020 draft, Jones played in just 37 games his rookie year and 69 games his second season, though he was still behind Dejounte Murray in the team's pecking order.

That changed this summer when the Spurs dealt Murray to Atlanta and coach Gregg Popovich handed Jones the keys to the team.

"Obviously on draft night you hear all these other names going ahead of you and you just have to use that as motivation," Jones said. "I obviously saw with my brother [Tyus] how the league works. So I didn't think too much of it. I knew that the work starts once you get to the city that drafted you, and you just have to make the most of the opportunities that are given. "

Through his first four games this season, Jones averaged 14.3 points, 4.5 assists and 1.8 steals. His 1.8 steals are tied for 17th in the NBA.

Jones said he took the Murray trade as a "little bit" of a sign of the organization's faith in him, but it didn't alter how he approached this season.

"We were just in there continuing to work and everything and all of our work this summer has definitely been paying off to start the season," Jones said.

Popovich compared Jones' leadership to that of former Spurs point guard Avery Johnson and called Jones a natural leader.

"I'm definitely aware of what he was able to do for the Spurs organization," Jones said of Johnson. "That's a great compliment for sure. It's something I just definitely pride myself upon, just playing hard every time I'm out there, trying to do everything I can to leave my imprint on the game and help my team be in the best position to win the game."

He's done that more than many NBA observers thought he might. Most analysts predicted the Spurs would linger toward the bottom of the Western Conference standings after the Murray trade. But they opened 3-1 before Wednesday's loss, not a surprise to Jones.

"We kind of expected this," Jones said. "We knew we would be able to compete with anybody. … It's just a matter of us putting the pieces together at the end of the game, staying together and being able to pull out these wins.

"We're young, not a lot of us have the experience to close out games. So we're still learning, but I think we knew what type of team we'd be able to have."

Kyle Anderson missed his third consecutive game because of back spasms. He is still considered day-to-day, Wolves coach Chris Finch said, and should help the team's ailing defense when he returns.

"We're going to miss any high-impact guy like Kyle, who can play multiple positions," Finch said. "He's so good at switching, so good at being the low man. He's a great rebounder. He's very smart and can guard a lot of guys. So, just gives us one more person to slow somebody down."

Austin Rivers' status (hip soreness) was a game-time decision before he was declared available to play.