Colby Jones took full advantage of the NBA preseason to showcase his talent and prove he belongs in the league.
Not only did he prove he could play, but the 21-year-old rookie is making a strong case to be a part of the Kings' rotation during the 2023-24 season.
On a night when De'Aaron Fox, Domantas Sabonis and Keegan Murray sat out, it was the No. 34 pick in the 2023 NBA Draft who shined on the Golden 1 Center floor Thursday night for Sacramento's final preseason game.
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Jones finished with 19 points on 53.8 percent shooting (7 of 13) from the field and 62.5 percent (5 of 8) from 3-point range, along with three rebounds, two assists and three steals in 24 minutes in the Kings' 116-113 win.
On the court shining by his side for a majority of the time was Kings guard Malik Monk, who also had himself a night. Monk dropped a team-high 23 points, two rebounds and eight assists in 29 minutes. A handful of those eight assists came from Monk connecting with Jones.
After the game, Monk shared why he's already so confident in the rookie.
NBA
"Oh yeah, man, a lot. If I don't feed him that faith, then who is he going to get it from? Because Mike is going to be hard on him," Monk said. "So I just try to be positive and tell him I'm going to find him so he can have his confidence because we're going to need him at some point this year. So it's big that he's showing these signs early."
And Mike Brown, who isn't easily impressed, to say the least, had nothing but positive things to say about Jones and what he's seen so far from the young player.
"I'll tell you what, the more and more I watch [Jones] and put him in different situations, the more impressed I am, especially for a young guy," Brown said earlier this week. "His upside is, in my opinion right now, pretty high. You don't want to elevate him there quite yet, but his pace, his demeanor, his strength, his athleticism, his feel, he can play pick-and-roll, he can play off the ball.
"Defensively, he's pretty good for a young guy. There are a lot of things that you look at and say 'Okay he may be a good basketball player someday at this level,' and he could be a high-level basketball player."
Whether Jones takes the third point guard role behind Fox and Davion Mitchell or perhaps becomes a fourth backup wing, he's proven that he's capable of competing with the big dogs at the NBA level.