Jones began focusing on rebounding at a young age growing up in Memphis, Tennessee. He tore his ACL as a junior in high school and this limited his college options. Jones ended up at Hill College and averaged 11.7 points per game over two seasons. He broke the NJCAA tournament rebounding record with 72 rebounds in five games. He committed to play at New Mexico State. He was named the 2017–18 WAC Player of the Year. As a senior, Jones became the first player since 1997 to record 20+ rebounds in three straight games. He averaged 11.0 points, 13.2 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game in his senior year. He was named WAC TournamentMost Valuable Player since he averaged 12.3 points and 18.3 rebounds per game over three tournament games. Jones set a WAC single-season record with 450 rebounds and was named WAC Player of the Year. He was also named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches All-District 6 first team and to the US Basketball Writers Association All-District VIII Team.
Jones was selected with the 18th pick in the 2018 NBA G League draft by the Santa Cruz Warriors. Shortly thereafter, he was traded alongside a 2019 first-round pick to the South Bay Lakers for the rights to Serbian player Alen Smailagić. He was added to the training camp roster.
On March 31, 2019, the Los Angeles Lakers announced that they had signed Jones. In his NBA debut, Jones had two points, one rebound and one steal against the New Orleans Pelicans. On April 7, Jones started for the Lakers, grabbing a career-high 16 rebounds in a 113–109 win over the Utah Jazz.
Wisconsin Herd (2019–present)
On July 5, 2019, Jones was traded to the Washington Wizards in a three-team trade. On October 16, 2019, Jones was waived by the Wizards after the team's four preseason games. Jones joined the Wisconsin Herd of the NBA G League after being acquired in a trade. He was suspended a game against the Erie BayHawks on March 9, 2020 for compiling his 13th technical foul. In the 2019-20 season, Jones averaged 10.8 points, 12.0 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 1.3 steals per game.
