Sacramento Kings welcome in their 2023 draftees

For players selected in the NBA Draft, the subsequent days can be hectic. After finding out they were selected by the Sacramento Kings on Thursday night, Colby Jones and Jalen Slawson had already made their way to Sacramento by Monday.

Later that night, they had dinner with head coach Mike Brown along with other members of the staff. Tuesday morning, they met some teammates, most notably De’Aaron Fox, before making their way to their introductory press conferences alongside general manager Monte McNair.

For both of these players, they were accomplishing a dream and watching it slowly become reality. Slawson, who was picked with the 54th overall selection out of Furman, shared some of his draft night emotions and experiences.

“I knew we thought that I was good enough to be drafted, but I didn’t expect anything,” Slawson said. “It was kind of surreal. It’s still a little bit surreal, to be honest with you. Holding that jersey up for the first time, that’s kind of when it was just like, ‘Wow. We’re really here. We really did it’… It’s a lifelong goal, so I was going to be excited whether I signed a UDFA or whether I was here.”

It’s been an amazing week in both of their lives, but the turnaround happens fast with the California Classic allowing them less than a week to get acclimated. Both of the newest draftees shared that they kept up with the Kings last year, partially because they were such a hot topic with an entertaining style of play.

“You’re seeing it all over social media and things like that,” Colby Jones said. “It’s a young team. They had a great year last year and I just want to keep the progression trending upwards.”

McNair has highlighted the fact that both Jones and Slawson were winners in college a few times throughout his two recent media availabilities. All of Keegan Murray, Davion Mitchell, and Tyrese Haliburton played on highly successful college teams. His two newest selections are no different.

Jones was a key piece to the thirded-seeded Xavier team that made it to the regional semifinals of the NCAA Tournament. During Slawson’s time at Furman made their first tournament appearance since 1980 and managed a miraculous upset over Virginia.

“Look, ultimately it’s about winning. So, if you’re a good player, you’re going to contribute to winning in some way. It’s not just that your team won, it’s that we’re seeing how you helped your team win and how you might then help us win,” McNair said. “I already told these guys, we got high expectations. We got a Summer League championship, our G-League team was number one throughout the year, and then we had our playoff drought broken last year but we need to go further. So, whether it’s Cal Classic, Summer League, G-League, or the NBA team, expect them to figure out a way to come in and help us win.”

When it comes to making those contributions sooner rather than later, both of Sacramento’s 2023 NBA draftees gave their own evaluations of their games and skillsets within the context of the Kings’ current staff, roster, and playstyle.

Slawson: “Obviously, looking for depth at the four spots. I feel like we play really fast. Coach Brown likes to play really fast, I feel like that’s something that I can bring. Be a good decision-maker, obviously pace, being able to run the floor pretty well, being a good athlete, and then being a versatile defender too. Those are all things that this organization values and things that I do pretty well.”

Jones: “I feel like just my overall game, my versatility on both ends of the floor. I feel like I’m just gonna come in and try to find any way to contribute to the team’s success.”

They were also asked more specifically about fitting into the free-flowing, equal-opportunity offense that Coach Brown and Sacramento currently have in place.

Jones: “I’m very excited to play. I feel like, just from past college experiences, being in a free-flow offense, I feel like I do well in those situations when the players are allowed to just read and react to different scenarios. I’m very excited and I feel like my game will fit in well here.”

Slawson: “I’ve watched a little bit of Xavier since we got drafted together. They ran a lot of the same stuff we do, we ran a lot of the same stuff you guys do. So, I think we’ll fit in pretty well with what (the Kings) are doing. I know it excites me to be able to have freedom on offense, I’m sure it excites Colby as well.”

Colby Jones spoke individually with The Kings Herald following the press conference about his draft night experience, joining Sacramento, and his fit as a player.

Q: What was the day of the draft like for you? I’m sure it’s a day dreams come true, but actually hearing your name called, figuring out where is going to be the landing spot, what was that process like for you?

Jones: “It was crazy. It was a great relief though just finally figuring out where I’m gonna be at. A lot of emotions, very excited for the whole family. It was a great time to have them all around me and all my friends and stuff like that.”

Q: Did you have any impressions of Sacramento? Are there any guys on this team that you previously looked up to? Any relationships or anything like that?

Jones: “After my predraft workout here I definitely walked away wanting to come back here, just because of the overall vibe I got from just like the front office and the coaches and just seeing all the facilities and stuff like that. I had a great feeling walking away from here.”

Q: Xavier’s offense was really good last year and you were a big part of that. What was your biggest contribution to that?

Jones: “I would just say really being a connector piece, but also just being one of the scorers coming off ball screens and stuff like that. But our offense was so free-flowing so it was really just whoever’s night it was. But, yeah, just really trying to make plays scoring and passing the ball and just playing defense.”

Q: You look pretty comfortable both on and off the ball, whether you’re initiating or playing off of others. I’m assuming a lot of it will be run through De’Aaron and Domantas (Sabonis) and you’ll be even more off-ball than what it was at Xavier. So you think that’s an adjustment at all for you?

Jones: “I really just want to come in and compliment them. I feel like that’s a very big part of my game and I feel like I’ll be comfortable coming in and doing that.”

Q: Defensively, what sort of versatility do you think that you have on that end of the floor on-ball?

Jones: “I would say just being able to guard multiple positions, talking, and just being vocal out there. I feel like that’s a big part of defense.”

Q: Last one I got for you. Is there anybody in the league that you really want to play against?

Jones: “I would say all my teammates that I’ve played with and played against when I was in high school and stuff like that just to see them and play them on this stage.”

Q: Who are some of your high-school guys?

Jones: “I played with Trendon Watford. That was my high-school teammate.”

Q: So now you got to get a Summer League MVP too?

Jones: “Yeah, for sure.”

Watford was named MVP of the 2022 Summer League championship game with the Portland Trail Blazers. Sacramento’s Summer League is just around the corner with the California Classic starting on July 3rd and Las Vegas kicking things off on the 7th.

As long as the Colby Jones trade is finalized with the league office as expected, both Jones and Slawson should be playing basketball in royal purple soon.