Sacramento Kings have a secret weapon hiding in the G League

On Wednesday, it was announced that the Sacramento Kings would be sending Orlando Robinson and Colby Jones down to the G-League for their affiliate's (the Stockton Kings) game against the Santa Cruz Warriors.

Unlike the Sacramento Kings last game against the Atlanta Hawks, the Stockton Kings emerged from this showdown victorious, besting the Golden State Warriors G League affiliate 108-98..

Basketball is a team game. So, you can never credit a single player with the entire win. However, there are players that have more impact on winning than others do. And in this game, it was hard to argue that anyone had a bigger imprint on the contest than the Kings' 2023 second round pick (Jones).

This was the definition of a two-way performance from Jones. He was putting up points (27) and being efficient (69.4% true shooting), and he was putting on a defensive clinic (four steals and two blocks).

Jones needs to bring this to the NBA level

Unfortunately, Jones hasn't been producing at the same rate at the NBA level. In the seven games that Jones has appeared in, he only played 2.1 minutes per game and averaged 0.7 points per game.

He played in the Kings' aforementioned loss to the Hawks, but it was only for three minutes. This is especially concerning, considering the Kings were without three of their five best players (DeMar DeRozan, Domantas Sabonis, and Malik Monk).

To be fair, if Jones ends up not panning out, it wouldn't come as that much of a surprise. After all, most second round picks usually fizzle out of the league after a few seasons. But performances like the one he had yesterday are why Jones is still worth holding out hope in.

This version of the Kings kind of needs Jones to turn into a rotational three-and-D player for them. As currently constructed, the Kings (when healthy) have an abundance of offense-first players (the three we mentioned earlier and De'Aaron Fox) and a scarcity of two-way role players to complement them.

Jones is already a good NBA defender. His best skill is the rim protection he provides as a wing. Last season, Jones placed in the 100th percentile in block rate among wings (per Cleaning the Glass). Having secondary rim protectors like Jones is especially important to a Kings team that fields Sabonis as their starting center.

Jones just needs to get his offense to a level that is passable enough for him to be on the court so that the Kings can profit off of his defensive value. If yesterday is any indication, that is definitely something that is possible.