Tre Jones to Forgo 2019 NBA Draft, Return to Duke for Sophomore Season

While the Duke Blue Devils are most likely about to lose freshman forward Zion Williamson to the 2019 NBA draft, another freshman has decided to stick around and learn more under head coach Mike Krzyzewski.

The program announced on Monday afternoon that guard Tre Jones will return for his sophomore season.

Across 36 games in 2018-19, Jones averaged 9.4 points, 5.3 assists and 3.8 rebounds. His best offering came in Duke's Sweet Sixteen win over Virginia Tech in which he scored a season-high 22 points along with eight assists.

No. 1 Duke saw its season end in the Elite Eight to No. 2 Michigan State on March 31.

Jones hinted at his decision to return on Saturday night with an Instagram photo of himself shrugging, captioning it, "Year 2?" His older brother, Tyus, commented, "Write Your Own Story!" 

The older Jones declared for the NBA draft following his 2014-15 freshman season with Duke, in which the Blue Devils won the national championship and he was named to the NCAA All-Tournament team. He was then taken No. 24 overall by Cleveland, who promptly traded him to the Minnesota Timberwolves. 

The 22-year-old point guard has spent all of his four seasons in Minnesota, starting 32 of 245 games.

The younger Jones has opted to develop his game further in college to perhaps go higher than his brother did and engineer himself into an NBA starter.

In a mock draft posted on March 21, CBS Sports' Reid Forgrave projected Jones would be taken at No. 17 overall by the Detroit Pistons. His valuation, in part: 

"This is high for Jones. But one NBA executive told me he could see Jones going higher than expected in a draft that's short on point guards. He's not the shooter that his older brother, Tyus, is—his 24.7 percent 3-point shooting is alarming—but he's an elite defender, perhaps the best perimeter defender in college basketball. 

"He's got all the basketball intangibles and leadership skills of his brother. A team in need of a point guard like the Pistons could do far worse in this slot of a weak draft than nabbing a guy who at the very least is a solid backup point guard."  

With Williamson along with fellow freshmen Cam Reddish and RJ Barrett all expected to leave for the NBA, Jones would become a much more prominent player and star for the 2019-2020 Blue Devils.