Former Weber State star Dillon Jones has been selected in the first round of the 2024 NBA Draft.
On Wednesday night, the Oklahoma City Thunder took Jones with the 26th overall pick. It came at a rather significant cost for the Thunder, as they traded a whopping five second round picks to the New York Knicks for the right to select Jones.
A native of South Carolina, Jones has had an interesting road to get to this point. He was not too much on the NBA radar until last year when he had a breakout performance at the G League Elite Camp after a late invite, which propelled him to get an invite to the NBA Draft Combine.
Jones succeeded there too, and many thought he should keep his name in the 2023 NBA Draft with good odds that he would be a high or mid-second round pick.
The 6-foot-6, 235-pound Jones decided to return to Weber State for his senior season however. He didn’t have quite the campaign that many thought he would, and most mock drafts had him pegged as a late second round pick this week.
That clearly was off base, as the Thunder paid a high price to be able to draft him.
Jones is a unique player, as his size allows him to play a hybrid forward role, not unlike his new teammate Jalen Williams.