How OKC Thunder's Jalen Williams Can Use the Charity Stripe on His Rise to Stardom

Jalen Williams can find a way to master the free throw line on his way to stardom, just as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander did.

May 18, 2024; Dallas, Texas, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jalen Williams (8) drives to the / Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

After a wildly successful 2023-24 season, Oklahoma City is clearly close to contention.  The team probably could’ve been labeled contenders this season. After losing to the Dallas Mavericks in six games, Dallas is now up 2-0 in the Western Conference Finals — just two wins away from the NBA Finals.

Although the season didn’t end the way the players wanted it to, Oklahoma City has one of the brightest futures in the NBA. Many are excited to see what the Thunder do this offseason and in off-seasons to come, and rightfully so. The team is still sitting on a handful of draft picks and is loaded with a ton of prospects. Management seems poised to make a move somewhere down the line — big or small — that could push this team over the top.

The most important key moving forward, though, is internal growth. The Thunder’s second scoring option, Jalen Williams, looks like a rising guard with All-Star potential and can be the swing player that gives OKC an advantage.

His game is already ascending at a rapid pace and there’s not much he needs to add to continue his All-Star trajectory. The tools are there, he just needs consistency and improvement. The one thing that could take his game to the next level — that also took Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s game to the next level — is figuring out how to use the free-throw line to his advantage. He already has a great mentor.

Williams averaged an impressive 19.1 points per game this season on 54% from the floor and 42.7% from 3-point range. His point total is even more intriguing considering the fact that he only attempted 3.1 free throws per game. During his rookie season, Williams made 2.1 attempts per game from the charity stripe and 2.5 makes his sophomore campaign. That’s a very small total for a rising wing that averaged nearly 20 points.

In Gilgeous-Alexander’s sophomore season, he averaged 19 points per game too. He shot just 5.1 free throws per game and didn’t fully understand how to handle contact inside the 3-point line. The very next season, his free throw attempts jumped to 6.5 per game, and in 2022 it jumped all the way to 10.9 attempts. He learned how to use the free throw line to his advantage and it catapulted his stardom.

Now, Williams has a chance to do the same. 

“I forgot who I heard this from when I was in like eighth grade, but it was just like every summer you try and pick something, one thing no matter what it is, and get really good at that,” Williams said during his exit interview. “And then try and hone in the rest of the skills that you have.

“So like this playoffs, I won't disclose what I'm going to do, but this playoffs I'm going to pick one thing. Okay, this was what was more difficult for me to do, and I'm going to really hone in on that all summer. As the summer progresses, I'm going to get really good at that one thing and hone in the rest of the skills that I already have.”

If Williams can add the art of the free throw line to his game, his seismic jump might be closer than we think.

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