The Philadelphia 76ers just made a very different kind of move. After spending the offseason signing key roster pieces like LeBron James and Jaylen Brown to complement the already existing trio of Tyrese Maxey, Joel Embiid, and VJ Edgecombe, the top-heavy Sixers are now taking a page from Mike Brown’s book.
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Philly has signed Dillon Jones to a non-guaranteed Exhibit 10 contract. But you may ask why a 24-year-old two-season NBA star is suddenly so important to be talking about. The unusual part is that Jones already has two championship rings. And his experience as a Larry O’Brien winner was something Brown desperately wanted in New York midway through the 2025-26 season.
“I spoke to Dillon often during this playoff run, because he had just gone through it with Oklahoma City,” Brown said of Jones on the Roommates Show. “I said, ‘Hey, when you guys were in this position, what was Mark saying? What was Sam Presti saying? What were you guys saying to each other? What do you think?”
Brown said Jones also suggested that the Knicks use a creative video idea that Oklahoma City used to regain momentum after a bad playoff loss.
“He wanted to show still shots of you because they did something similar to that because they lost the year before, and so we just took it to another level, and Cory put together the video just to remind everybody that, hey, this is what it felt like,” Brown explained.
It is safe to say that Jones’ ideas proved effective, as the Knicks beat the San Antonio Spurs 94-90 in Game 5 of the Finals on June 13, winning the series 4-1 and ending a 53-year championship drought. Funnily, Jones didn’t even make a postseason appearance because he wasn’t eligible under his two-way contract.
Two months ago, Jones acknowledged several “organic conversations” that he had with Brown across the season. He also suggested the Knicks rewatch their Game 3 loss to the Spurs when locker room tensions were running high. Initially, though, Jones said he was quite surprised his opinions mattered.
“The fact that [Brown] would even approach me and have a conversation with me, or even ask me to help in any way… I just think it speaks to him more than me- his humility to hear everybody out in the building,” Jones told the media. “I’m just glad I was able to help the team in any way.”
Jones’ championship résumé looks very different from his NBA statistics. He played 54 regular-season games for OKC as a rookie in 2024-25, averaging 2.5 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 10.2 minutes per game. He appeared in 10 playoff games, playing 46 total minutes as the Thunder won the championship.
Then, after being traded to Washington in the summer of 2025 and waived before the season, Jones went to the G League. He was selected No. 1 overall in the G League Draft and scored 15.9 points, 7.0 rebounds, 6.9 assists and 1.8 steals per contest across stints with Rip City Remix and Westchester Knicks.
That contrast explains why Philly is giving him another look. Jones has shown he can handle the ball and create for others in the G League. On the other hand, though, his NBA shooting numbers have remained a concern. He has shot .373 from the field and .250 from three-point range in his professional career.
The 76ers have now reached 20 players under contract with Jones, eliminating the need for another roster move ahead of training camp. Philly has 13 guaranteed standard contracts, one partially guaranteed contract and two two-way players, leaving one slot open. Jones will compete with Tacko Fall, Jameer Nelson Jr. and Saint Thomas for that slot.
That makes the path clear for Jones. If Philadelphia converts his Exhibit 10 deal into a two-way contract before the regular season, he could split time between the 76ers and the Delaware Blue Coats. If he is waived and stays with Delaware for at least 60 days, he’ll become eligible for an Exhibit 10 bonus of up to $91,000.
Tacko Fall is quite experienced in this two-way lot, with 37 NBA games already under his belt. He has spent the last four seasons between the Chinese Basketball Association and the Australian National Basketball League.
Saint Thomas also makes a strong case because he has played for the Delaware Blue Coats. Thomas averaged 12.5 points, five rebounds and 3.7 assists per game while shooting 47 percent last season for the Coats.
And finally, Jameer Nelson Jr. is the son of the 76ers’ new executive vice president of basketball operations. He averaged 18.9 points on 48 percent shooting, along with 3.4 assists and three rebounds per game for the Stockton Kings last season.
While all three of them bring distinct skill sets to the table, Jones has already experienced something few players can claim: championships, that too two of them. His next challenge is much simpler: turn that experience, along with his G League production, into a place in Philadelphia and LeBron James’ win-now plans.