Dillon Jones Might Be Older, But The Potential Remains

The Oklahoma City Thunder got an interesting young player when they acquired the rights to Dillon Jones.

Dillon Jones stands with Thunder general manager Sam Presti during an introductory press conference for the 2024 Thunder draft picks at Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center in Oklahoma City, Saturday, June, 29, 2024. / SARAH PHIPPS/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK

Last season, Trayce Jackson-Davis surprised plenty of NBA fans with his mature play, high level of production, and overall readiness for the pro level. As is essentially custom nowadays, someone will rise from a low draft position, and make numerous teams shake their head and go "of course we should have taken him instead".

The common denominator in most of these cases? Age.

Teams tend to lean on youth, hoping younger players will field a better return than that senior player, who probably is who he'll always be. Sometimes, taking that approach is the right call, especially if the aforementioned senior has some warts, that have yet to be ironed out.

However, as was the case with Jackson-Davis, sometimes those warts might not mean a whole lot.

Enter Dillon Jones, who was picked 26th and found his way to the Oklahoma City Thunder. 

Jones is an all-around player, and a good one at that. This past season at Weber State, he averaged 20.8 points, 9.8 rebounds, 5.2 assists, and 2.0 steals, while doing everything for his 20-12 Wildcats. 

The lingering question that's currently hovering over Jones is, outside of age, whether his game can be adjusted to the NBA level. After all, most rookies not picked in the high lottery will have to find ways to be productive around more established players.

This, too, is true for Jones. There's no way head coach Mark Daigneault will suddenly take possessions away from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and funnel them towards Jones instead.

That means, in a nutshell, Jones can't use a fairly high percentage of his skill set, making it almost moot at the NBA level. 

And yet, Jones should be able to string together good games.

The 22-year-old wing is smart, and he seemingly understands how his vast skill level can be put into effect on a day-to-day basis.

Is the team short on rebounding? He was one of the best in the nation at his size, and rebounding usually translates to the pro level. 

Does the team need another playmaker on the floor? Jones is capable of having possessions run through him, making him comfortable with the ball in his hands.

Does the Thunder need a scoring punch if the bench is off? Jones has netted 18.7 points over his past 62 collegiate games.

It's all about the ability to scale up and down in certain categories, something Jones should be able to do right from the get-go, given how he performed at Weber State. Most of his high-assist games came when he wasn't a major factor in the scoring department.

Finally, let's not ignore the upside of a do-it-all talent like Jones eventually developing into sixth-man material. Sometimes a team needs their best man off the bench to do whatever's necessary any given night, and that job gets difficult for one-dimensional scoring guards, for example.

Jones is a player Daigneault can literally ask to do a wide range of things, without relinquishing what makes him special. 

And that, in and of itself, is exactly what makes him special. 

Unless noted otherwise, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball-Reference. All salary information via Spotrac. All odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook.

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