Thunder's Jalen Williams Continues To Make A Strong Push For Rookie Of The Year
The NBA’s Rookie of the Year award is truly one of the most fascinating award races every single season simply because the criteria for the award is constantly changing. One does not have to be a part of the best team in the league to win the award, they don’t necessarily need to lead all rookies in scoring and they don’t even need to be the best player on their team.
The Rookie of the Year award usually goes to a rookie in the NBA who has made the biggest impact for his team and while you can certainly make the case for this award going to Orlando Magic top pick Paolo Banchero, Jalen Williams from the Oklahoma City Thunder may very well be the most impactful rookie this season.
Coming out of Santa Clara, not many knew of Williams’ talents, but he quickly drew everyone’s attention ahead of the 2022 NBA Draft when he had arguably the best combine performance out of any of the participants this past year.
“I think a lot of it was my willingness to just play at the combine,” Williams told Fastbreak on FanNation ahead of the 2022 NBA Draft this past summer. “I think that really stood out and a lot of people really brought that up. Everyone for the most part is really talented, so just how hard I played and my willingness to defend really jumped out at a lot of teams. Obviously there is the offensive side of my game that everyone kind of knows I have, but it is kind of different seeing it in person which I think was also big for me.”
Now 60 games into his rookie season, Jalen Williams continues to impress and he has helped the Thunder be on the cusp of making the Play-In Tournament in the Western Conference after many thought they would wind up finishing with one of the worst records in the entire league at the beginning of the year.
Playing in almost every game this season for the Thunder, Williams has averaged 13.3 points, 4.2 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.4 steals per game while shooting an extremely efficient 52.1 percent from the floor and 34.9 percent from three-point range. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Josh Giddey get most of the attention as the key names on Oklahoma City’s roster, but Williams has been tremendous for this team.
Over his last six games, Williams is averaging 23.3 points, 5.3 assists, 4.7 rebounds and 2.2 steals per game while shooting 60.9 percent from the floor. Recently recording 32 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists against the Utah Jazz on Sunday, Jalen Williams joined Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook as the only other rookies in team history to record at least 30 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists in a game.
Looking at his numbers from the start of the season to now, Jalen Williams has increased his productivity and has become a much more efficient player. Consistently seeing over 30 minutes a game now nearing the end of his rookie year, Williams deserves to be in the running for this season’s Rookie of the Year award.
In a recent media poll for Fastbreak on FanNation, Paolo Banchero was the overwhelming favorite to win the 2022-23 NBA Rookie of the Year award, receiving 23 of the 25 total votes cast. The other two votes went to Indiana Pacers rookie Bennedict Mathurin, who is also having a stellar rookie season.
When you factor in offensive and defensive efficiency together, Jalen Williams may very well be having the best season out of any player in his rookie class and his numbers do stack up well in an argument against the likes of Banchero and Mathurin.
Williams currently ranks first in points, assists and steals amongst Western Conference rookies and his 81 total steals this season leads all rookies in the NBA. Not to mention, he ranks fourth in scoring, fifth in three-point shooting percentage (min. 100 attempts) and he’s tied with Paolo Banchero in Player Efficiency Rating this season, a key statistic that many voters utilize when evaluating players for these end of season awards.
Banchero may be the best player on his team and has done everything he has needed to in order to be the frontrunner for the Rookie of the Year award all season long, but if we are talking about which rookie has made the biggest impact for his team and their chances to succeed right away, everyone should look no further than Jalen Williams and the amazing rookie year he has had.
Be sure to catch up on the newest episode of The Fast Break Podcast hosted by Fastbreak's own Brett Siegel!
Streaming on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, The Fast Break Podcast takes you inside the league with the latest news, intel, rumors and interviews from those close to the action for all 30 teams. Be on the lookout for a new episodes every Friday.
