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The Oklahoma City Thunder just won their first championship in the Oklahoma-era, but they got right to work with the NBA offseason and free agency period on the horizon. The Thunder’s first order of offseason business was a trade with the Washington Wizards involving Dillon Jones, as per Shams Charania of ESPN.
In addition to Dillon Jones heading to the Wizards, the Thunder also sent a second round pick as part of the trade. On the Wizards’ side of things, they will send Colby Jones to the Thunder. The Thunder do not intend to keep Colby on the roster, per Charania.
The Thunder trading Jones to the Wizards clears up a roster spot as well as another potential young player that the team had to develop. The Thunder front office has done a good job acquiring draft picks, but at some point those pick have to be made and eventually developed. This trade at least alleviates some of that burden. The team is set up to contend for the foreseeable future with or without this trade.
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From the Wizards perspective, they add another first round talent to potentially go with their current young core. Jones was the No. 26 overall pick by the Thunder in the 2024 NBA Draft. He didn’t see much playing time this season, spending a good portion of his rookie year in the G League with the Oklahoma City Blue.
During the regular season, Jones appeared in 54 games, including five starts, at a little over ten minutes per game. He averaged 2.5 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.1 assists with splits of 38.3 percent shooting from the field, 25.4 percent shooting from the three-point line and 60.7 percent shooting from the free-throw line.
In the G League, Jones appeared in 23 games for the Blue at a little over 32 minutes per game. He averaged 13.2 points, 7.4 rebounds and 5.5 assists with splits of 42.2 percent shooting from the field, 29.6 percent shooting from the three-point line and 66.7 percent shooting from the free-throw line.
