A Royal Pain
Fansided

Potential defensive savior gets sent to Sacramento Kings G League affiliate

By Mat Issa

Oct 13, 2024; Sacramento, California, USA; Sacramento Kings forward DeMar DeRozan (10) and guard Colby Jones (20) walk up the court during the fourth quarter against the Portland Trail Blazers at Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images
Oct 13, 2024; Sacramento, California, USA; Sacramento Kings forward DeMar DeRozan (10) and guard Colby Jones (20) walk up the court during the fourth quarter against the Portland Trail Blazers at Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images / Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images
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With the NBA G League getting set to begin, teams are sending down their young fringe rotation guys who they believe would be better served getting repetitions in Triple-A than rotting away on the bench in the major leagues.

On Monday, it was announced by the Sacramento Kings that one of those players would be their second-year wing, Colby Jones.

For those who aren't uber familiar with Jones, he was the Kings' second round draft pick (34th overall) in the 2023 NBA Draft. Last season marked his rookie campaign, and in it, he appeared in 30 games, posting averages of 2.1 PPG, 1.3 RPG, and 0.7 APG in 6.4 minutes per contest. Jones spent his college days at Xavier. He played three years there and earned a spot on the 2022-23 All-Big East nomination.

Was this the wrong call by the Sacramento Kings?

While it is never glamorous in the world of sports writing to agree with the team's decision, the Kings probably made the right call here. Through two games, Jones had not seen a lick of action. And considering the fact that head coach Mike Brown is struggling to find minutes for someone like Keon Ellis (who is much more deserving of them at this point than Jones), Jones is better off gaining experience with the Stockton Kings than keeping seats warm for his NBA teammates.

With that said, as the headline suggests, Jones could really bolster this struggling defense (27th in defensive rating). Jones is a good athlete with nice positional size (6'6 with a 6'8 wingspan). Plus, he offers secondary rim protection (74th percentile block rate, per Dunks & Threes) – something a team that employs Domantas Sabonis as their starting center desperately needs. Jones is also a good defensive playmaker (73rd percentile).

Hopefully, the Kings are able to find some minutes for Jones because he would certainly help their struggling defense.

During the preseason, Jones appeared in four games for the Kings, averaging 2.3 PPG, 1.5 RPG, 2.0 APG, and 0.8 SPG in 16.3 minutes of action.

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