Former Alabama guard staying with Kings
Former Alabama standout Keon Ellis is staying with the Sacramento Kings after signing a two-way contract with the NBA team.
The Kings also announced on Sunday that second-round draft choice Colby Jones, a former Mountain Brook High School star, had signed his first NBA contract.
A 6-foot-6 guard, Ellis spent his rookie season on a two-way contract with the Kings. The two-way contract allowed Ellis to move between Sacramento and its NBA G League affiliate, the Stockton Kings, without the need for waivers.
For Sacramento, Ellis played in 16 games in the 2022-23 season. He had 24 points, eight rebounds, six assists and five steals in 71 minutes of NBA action. Ellis made half of his 12 3-point shots for the Kings last season.
For Stockton, Ellis averaged 16.1 points, 5.3 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.5 steals in 36 games last season.
The 34th pick in the NBA Draft on June 22, Jones came to the Kings after he averaged 15.0 points, 5.7 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 1.3 steals for Xavier in the 2022-23 season, when the 6-6 guard earned second-team All-Big East recognition.
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Terms were not announced for either contract.
Jones’ contract was reported as a four-year, $8.76 million deal with the first two seasons guaranteed.
Sacramento had made a qualifying offer of $1.762 million for the 2023-24 season to Ellis before the start of the free-agent negotiating period on Friday to make him a restricted free agent.
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Ellis and Jones are on the Kings’ roster for summer action in the California Classic, a six-team NBA session that includes games on Monday and Wednesday in Sacramento.
Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.