OKC Thunder: Jalen Williams Turning Yet Another Corner
Despite being just 111 games into his NBA career, Thunder forward Jalen Williams has turned so many corners you’d think he was a Nascar driver.
Be it with his high school team, the Santa Clara Broncos or the professional basketball team residing in Oklahoma City, he just keeps finding ways to get better and better.
And his most recent turning-of-the-corner has him staring at a potential NBA All-Star bid.
At just 22, Williams has long been coveted by the Thunder. It’s all but been confirmed that the team ended up trading into the No. 11 spot in the 2022 NBA Draft to fend off adversaries wanting to snag his talents. And after they were able to move to that spot via three first round picks, they reportedly ended up taking him at No. 12, just in case the deal fell through.
Leaving with a developmental forward in Ousmane Dieng, a talented player in his own right, was the cherry on top. But the trade, at its core, highlighted just how much OKC wanted Williams.
And in his rookie season — one he finished Rookie of the Year runner-up in — that was apparent. At first, he got shots naturally: cutting off-ball, shooting open jumpers and dribble-driving when needed. And slowly but surely, they allowed him to mix in his patented fadeaway mid-range shots, exclamatory dunks and subsequent celebrations.
Flash-forward back to the present, Williams seems to be getting an even longer on-court leash from organization.
In his last 13 games, he’s averaged 21.0 points per game. On Monday night, taking 18 total shots, his third-highest total of the season and just one behind Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s 19.
On the season, he’s now averaging 18.4 points per game, second only behind Gilgeous-Alexander. And his 54.5% shooting overall isn’t a half-bad number, either.
All this and more has caused Williams to get even more reps running the OKC offense (as best you can in a pass-heavy system), along with isolation reps (which he excels in.)
For now, Williams’ push may be too late to earn the All-Star selection. But there’s little doubt on his or OKC’s end that he’ll get there eventually. Consider that corner, turned.
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