How Jalen Williams' Rookie Season Compares to Former OKC Thunder Guards
When Oklahoma City selected Jalen Williams with the 12th overall pick in 2022, many fans and analysts looked at the pick as a reach, wondering why OKC would take a player from a WCC school not named Gonzaga in the lottery. Williams has answered these questions as a rookie, showcasing his ball handling, playmaking, versatility on defense and ability to finish above the rim.
Even after breaking a bone in his face five minutes into his first professional contest, causing the Santa Clara product to miss over a week of action to start the season, Williams has fired out of the gate. In his 36 games this season, the Perry, Arizona, native is averaging 11.6 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 0.9 steals per game with only 1.6 turnovers in 27.7 minutes per contest.
Williams' field goal percentage has also been very impressive, as the 6-foot-5 wing is knocking down almost 51% of his shots. On defense, Williams has shown an ability to use his long wingspan to bother wings at the perimeter while also hanging with forwards in the paint.
After beginning this season coming off the bench, Williams has become a regular starter on the team, cracking the first five 23 times.
Thunder legend Russell Westbrook notched 65 starts during his rookie season in 2008-09, averaging 15.3 points, 5.3 assists, 4.9 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game with 3.3 turnovers in 32.5 minutes per game. Westbrook, however, shot 39.8% from the field that year, 12% lower than Williams' current marks.
Westbrook's first professional season was a much different setting, though, as it was the squad's first year in OKC. The Thunder finished with a 23-59 record, only five more wins than the 2022-23 Thunder have halfway through the current NBA season.
This landed Oklahoma City the third overall pick, with which the team selected future MVP James Harden.
The young Arizona State product showed flashes off the bench as a rookie, but didn't produce the same statistical output as the other guards on this list due to the team's dynamic. Westbrook and superstar wing Kevin Durant were the young leaders of the 2009-2010 Thunder, having already shown evidence of undoubtedly bright futures in the association.
Harden averaged 9.9 points, 3.2 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.1 steals per game with only 1.4 turnovers and a 40.3% field goal percentage in 22.9 minutes per game as a rookie. The current 76er did not record a start that season, but appeared in 76 games as the team's sixth man.
Coming out of Australia, then-19-year-old Josh Giddey burst onto the scene in his first year in the NBA. The former NBL standout averaged 12.5 points, 7.8 rebounds, 6.4 assists and 0.9 steals per game.
Giddey shot 41.9% from the field as a rookie in 2021-22 and turned the ball over 3.2 times in 31.5 minutes per game. The 6-foot-8 point guard played and started in 54 games last year before being shut down with hip problems.
Both Harden and Giddey were named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team while Westbrook's spectacular season earned the UCLA product NBA All-Rookie First Team honors.
While these players played in different eras of Thunder basketball under different head coaches and in completely different situations, it is still helpful to look at the standard set by those who proved to be productive players in the NBA as a reference point for how current rookies are performing early in their careers.
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