Grading the OKC Thunder 2024 NBA Draft pick: Dillon Jones

The Oklahoma City Thunder selected Dillon Jones with the No. 26 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft in a trade with the New York Knicks. It is time to grade the pick.

Jun 26, 2024; Brooklyn, NY, USA; NBA commissioner Adam Silver speaks before the first round of the 2024 NBA Draft at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports / Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

The Oklahoma City Thunder traded back into the first round of the 2024 NBA Draft, after entering the night with just the No. 12 selection - which they used on high-upside guard Nikola Topic - the Thunder went and got pick No. 26 from the New York Knicks to grab Weber State tweener Dillon Jones.

It only cost the Thunder five second-round picks - the same way Taylor Swift spending a million dollars is like you or I going to buy a Starbucks coffee - a price worth paying to get a guy the Thunder clearly valued above the rest.

Jones is a 6-foot-4 guard but compensates for the lack of pure height with his 6-foot-11 wingspan and sturdy 237-pound frame. The Weber State product can be listed as a guard but plays more like a forward with guard skills.

Sam Presti is no stranger to asking players to size up on defense, last week at a press conference following the Alex Caruso trade, the Thunder General Manager explained how they look at height when it comes to defense.

" I know people oftentimes look at height, in when they talk about wing players or -- we look at
effectiveness and his effectiveness on bigger wings is extraordinary," Presti said of Caruso last week. Despite Jones' lack of raw height, he is certainly effective in a lot of areas.

The 22-year-old is a prolific pick-and-roll defender ranking in the 97th percentile while also finding success shutting down spot-up chances where he ranks in the 77th percentile according to Synergy.

Offensively, Jones is a tank rolling to the rim ready to bump his matchups off their spots to finish at the rim at a 61 percent clip. The Weber State product also turns in 34 percent shooting on catch-and-shoot chances, 39 percent off the dribble and was able to drive the bus for the Wildcats this past season.

Jones enjoys success as a spot-up shooter going for 1.070 points per possession in those chances, and dominates in transition to the tune of 1.2 points per possession.

In college, Jones only was the beneficiary of being a pick-and-roll man 12 times an area the Thunder will certainly look to tap into under Mark Daigneault who loves putting guards in screening action. Couple his soft hands, catch radius and rim finishing with his catch-and-shoot jumper and he seems primed for Daigneault's system.

Grade: B - This is why you stockpile second-round picks, while many took their swipes at the Thunder hoarding selections it is for the benefit of going to grab your guy no matter what, seems as though OKC got their guy.

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