According to Chris Haynes, who just became a full free agent, Chris Paul plans to sign a contract with the San Antonio Spurs. According to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, Paul will get a one-year, totaling more than $11 million contract from the Spurs. Previously, Paul's old club, the Golden State Warriors, officially announced that they had decided to cut Paul, and then Paul also quickly signed with the Spurs after the free market opened.
Notably, the Spurs selected Sophomore backcourt star Stephon Castle from the University of Connecticut with the fourth pick in the first round of this year's NBA Draft. Considering Castle's previous attitude of wanting to play a starting point guard role when he enters the NBA, and his refusal to try out for teams with high-level starting point guards, it is reasonable to assume that Castle will be the team's starting point guard, at least for the start of the season. Now that the Spurs have signed a backcourt veteran like Paul at a great price, Paul's playing time will basically be more than 20 minutes, which means that the Spurs have changed from a lack of personnel to some personnel overflow in the No. 1 position.
The biggest losers in the selection of Castle and the signing of Paul were undoubtedly the team's starting point guard Tre Jones in the second half of the season. Jones's own characteristics are actually similar to Paul's, Jones and Paul at this age are assist-first players, they both have solid fundamentals and skills, and their assist-to-turnover ratios are also among the best in the league. As Paul has aged, he has seen some declines in shooting consistency and defensive ability, both of which Jones is not good at. In other words, with the arrival of Paul, Jones's position on the team is also very chicken.
In the NBA regular season this season, Jones played a total of 77 games for the team, averaging 27.8 minutes per game, averaging 10 points, 3.8 rebounds, 6.2 assists, 1 steal, 0.1 blocks, and 1.5 turnovers, shooting 50.5% from the field, 33.5% from three-point range, and 85.6% from the free throw line. Jones' performance this season is actually quite good, his offensive efficiency is very stable, his three-point shooting percentage has also improved significantly compared to previous seasons, and his passing ability and playmaking ability are still the best on the Spurs team. Next season is Jones' contract year, his contract with the team expires next summer, and his salary for next season is $9.1 million, making Jones a very desirable signing target for teams that need a qualified point guard.