OKC Thunder trade up to grab Weber State's Dillon Jones in 1st round

OGDEN — One of the best players in the modern history of Weber State men's basketball is headed to Oklahoma City.

The Thunder targeted Weber State forward Dillon Jones with the No. 26 pick of the first round in Wednesday's 2024 NBA draft, making the 6-foot-4, 235-pound forward from Columbia, South Carolina, the Wildcats' first NBA draft pick since Joel Bolomboy went to the Utah Jazz in the second round in 2016.

Technically, the pick was made by the Washington Wizards, who traded the pick to the New York Knicks before OKC traded back into the first round, according to ESPN, The Athletic and others. The Thunder will send five second-round picks the Knights in exchange for Jones' rights, according to The Athletic.

But in moving up to grab Jones, Oklahoma City extends a two-year, guaranteed contract to Jones, which Sportico's sliding scale of rookie salaries reports to be $5.4 million. If the Thunder pick up the remainder of his four-year deal via team options, the Sunrise Christian product stands to make $13.5 million.

Teams are required to offer at least 80% of the "rookie scale contract" according to the terms of the most recent collective bargaining agreement, but may reach as high as 120% of the rookie salary slot, per Sportico. Second-round picks, meanwhile, don't have any salary restrictions and often go for a league-minimum salary or two-way contracts involving the team's NBA G League affiliate.

Jones, the reigning Big Sky Conference MVP and three-time All-Big Sky selection, is the highest NBA draft pick from Weber State since Damian Lillard went No. 6 overall to the Portland Trail Blazers in 2012 — the only Wildcat ever selected in the first round.

Until Wednesday, that is.

"Playing on the ball at 6-foot-6, 235 pounds with a 6-foot-11 wingspan, Jones is a physical slasher with great instincts on both ends of the floor," wrote Jonathan Givony for ESPN.com. "While his assertiveness made him a force in Big Sky play, he'll surely need to improve his career 32% 3-point shooting mark while transitioning to a more compact role in the NBA."

Jones leaves Weber State with one of the great college basketball careers of the Ogden-based school, the only player in Big Sky history with at least 1,500 points, 400 assists and 200 steals. He is one of just four players nationally with such numbers since the 1992-93 season.

Jones played in 119 career games for the Wildcats, finishing his career ranked in the top 10 in 13 different categories. He finished his time in the Dee Events Center as the program's all-time leader in steals, and ranks second in assists and free throws made, third in rebounding and fifth in scoring.

After flirting with the NBA draft a year ago, the fourth-year junior returned to Weber State last year to improve his draft stock — and averaged a career-best 20.8 points on 48.9% shooting including 32% from 3-point range to go along with 9.8 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game for the Wildcats.

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