Tre Jones Drafted by San Antonio Spurs

Point guard goes No. 41 overall

Duke point guard Tre Jones became the second Blue Devil off the board when the San Antonio Spurs took him with the 41st overall pick, the 11th pick in the second round of the NBA Draft.

Jones, who returned to Duke following his freshman year, was named ACC Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year as a sophomore, becoming the second ACC player ever to sweep the two awards.

Jones averaged 16.2 point last season, an increase of nearly seven points per game from his freshman year. He also averaged 6.4 assists, 4.2 rebounds and 1.8 steals. He was rated one of the top perimeter defenders in this year’s draft.

Jones had been mocked as high as the teens in early projections of the draft, but he ended up falling out of the first round.

ESPN showed Jones and his mother at home, receiving the news. His brother Tyus, a former Blue Devil who was drafted after his freshman year in 2015 and currently plays for the Memphis Grizzlies, presented him with his official Spurs hat.

“Myself and my family have been through a lot, for sure,” Jones said on the ESPN broadcast, referring to his mother’s battle with breast cancer last year. “This moment ranks up there. I’m excited for the opportunity. I’m very thankful to the San Antonio Spurs organization for believing in me.”

Jones is the first Blue Devil drafted by the Spurs since current Duke assistant coach Chris Carrawell, who was also taken with the 41st overall pick in 2000.