The Blue Devils are going to need to find a point guard
Duke freshman Frank Jackson will forgo his remaining collegiate eligibility to enter the NBA Draft, sources told ESPN’s Jeff Goodman on Friday. Jackson’s father later confirmed the report.
He will sign with agent Bill Duffy.
The former five-star recruit played just 24.9 minutes per game for the Blue Devils last season as he came off the bench behind starters Grayson Allen and Luke Kennard. Still, Jackson flashed some skills that will be attractive to NBA franchises as he averaged 10.9 points per contest.
Most importantly, Jackson knocked down 39.2 percent of his 3-point attempts. That’s a great number for a player who projects as a sort of combo guard at the professional level. However, the 1.7 assists per game he averaged don’t bode well for the his upside as a lead guard. Jackson, though, may be best suited to a bench role where he can lead the second unit as a scorer.
Jackson is a likely second rounder or even an undrafted free agent, but the situation at Duke for 2017-18 put pressure on him to leave early. Allen announced previously that he’s coming back for his senior season and all signs currently point to five-star point guard Trevon Duval committing to the school sometime in the near future. There simply weren’t going to be many more minutes or new opportunities for Jackson in Durham as a sophomores, so heading to a professional situation where he can work on is game full-time became a logical choice.
With Jackson headed to the professional ranks, actually landing Duval now becomes a priority for the Blue Devils. The 6-foot-3 guard is an explosive athlete who excels as a distributor, the exact type of player that last season’s Duke roster lacked. Duval is also considering Arizona, Baylor, Kansas and Seton Hall.