The Sacramento Kings are still putting the finishing touches on their roster for next season, and with 14 players under contract they likely have just one spot left for another player. While the possibility of bringing back Mason Jones existed for months, the door has now closed and Jones is moving on.
The Kings were not the first NBA stop for Jones, but they were the most recent. The 6'4" guard was a late-comer to the sport of basketball, not playing at a high-end organized level until his senior year of high school. The Texas native then worked his way from Connors State Community College to Arkansas, where he ended up as the SEC co-Player of the Year in 2020.
Jones went undrafted in the 2020 NBA Draft; the Kings may have wished they took him over Texas Tech draft bust Jahmi'us Ramsey that year. Instead, Mason Jones signed with the Houston Rockets on a two-way contract and joined their 2020-21 roster. He appeared in 26 games for the Rockets and was a prolific scorer in limited minutes, yet even so they waived him toward the end of the season to sign Anthony Lamb in his place.
That began some bouncing around the league for Jones. He had a cup of coffee with the Philadelphia 76ers, played Summer League the following year for the Washington Wizards, and finally ended up on the Los Angeles Lakers on another two-way deal. He would play limited minutes in the NBA, but he was a dominating force in the G League, averaging 25.5 points per game and shooting well above 40 percent from 3-point range.
That began his G League stardom; he played another season in the Lakers' organization, then a year as a free agent in the G League with the Mexico City Capitanes. He continued to shoot the ball at a high level and fill up the stat sheet, and that caught the eye of the Kings organization.
Jones would spend two years with Sacramento and Stockton, continuing the duality of his NBA career. He was a G League stud, a knockdown shooter and an improved playmaker who ran the point for Stockton. When he moved up to Sacramento, however, his lack of size limited his scoring impact; he still passed and rebounded at solid levels, but he was inefficient in small bursts of playing time.
Mason Jones is moving on
The Kings have had a number of question marks still circling their roster this summer, which kept open the possibility of Jones coming back as their final rostered player. They added veteran point guard Dennis Schroder but made it clear that they were open to moving on from other guards such as Malik Monk and Devin Carter. That left their backcourt configuration and roster slots in flux.
Nothing has materialized this summer, however, and it was time for Jones to move on. Without an offer from the Kings or any other NBA team, the 27-year-old is taking his talents overseas, and has agreed to a deal with Australian club Perth in the National Basketball League (NBL).
Jones replaces American import and Australian star Bryce Cotton as the team's import guard, and he will team with Dylan Windler and a solid roster to propel Perth back to a deep playoff run. The Perth Wildcats finished in the semifinals of the NBL playoffs last season and have added Jones to make another run this year.
The Kings invested two years into Jones but didn't feel good enough about his level of play to bring him back. Playing overseas may be a much better fit for the hard-playing guard -- and so the Kings have said goodbye to a part of last year's team.