OKC Thunder send promising young talent to G League

The OKC Thunder may have come away from the 2024 NBA Draft with two first-round selected talents, but so far into the campaign neither have found themselves registering any meaningful playing time in a regular season outing.

It was a given, of course, that lone lottery pick Nikola Topic would be found stationed on the sidelines considering he'll be red-shirted his entire first year as he rehabs from his late July surgery to repair his partially torn ACL.

That said, with his strong play during the preseason, the 26 pick from the festivities in Dillon Jones seemed to be a talent who could realistically vie for some on-court action early and often in his rookie campaign.

After all, he finished these exhibitions with tremendous, all-around averages of 11.2 points, 6.6 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 1.8 steals on 47.8 percent shooting and 46.7 percent shooting from deep.

Now a week into the 2024-25 season, however, it seems that the wait to see the rookie wing step foot onto the hardwood for meaningful minutes might be longer than many may have expected, as the Thunder have officially announced that they will be sending Jones down to the G League to suit up for their affiliate team, the OKC Blue.

OKC Thunder send Dillon Jones down to G League affiliate team

A highly versatile player who made a name for himself during his four-year stint at Weber State as being capable of playing multiple positions, Jones was pegged as someone who could get some NBA action right away following the string of injuries to Jaylin Williams, Isaiah Hartenstein, and Kenrich Williams that has left OKC's frontcourt rotation rather depleted.

However, three games into the season Dillon Jones has totaled a mere seven minutes played and has yet to see any semblance of consequential action.

While his reassignment may come as a bit of a surprise, considering the Thunder have made such a decision while their forward depth has been bludgeoned by health-related ailments, one should only expect his participation in the G League to become rather regular as the previously mentioned core players begin to make their way back from their respective injuries.

With the Blue, Jones will be able to come across consistent playing time where he can hone his skills against other budding, or even previously established NBA talents. The reigning G League champions will kick off training camp over the next week or so and will start their season with an opening bout against the Texas Legends on November 12.