How Jalen Williams Can Be Effective As Jump Shot Slow to Come Around

The Oklahoma City Thunder are still waiting on Jalen Williams to get his shot back following offseason wrist surgery, but Williams has proven he can still be effective in the meantime.

Dec 31, 2025; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Jalen Williams (8) dribbles down the court against the Portland Trail Blazers during the second half at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images | Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

2025 was unforgettable for Jalen Williams. It was his first All-Star nod, first All-NBA and All-Defensive honors, and he won his first NBA Championship while getting his number retired at Santa Clara along the way. He did most of that work on torn ligaments in his wrist. That led to offseason surgery where he also had to get screws removed from his wrists before the season began before ultimately returning to the hardwood on Nov. 28 playing in the last 15 games for the Bricktown Ballers.

This season, Williams is not yet putting up those All-NBA level numbers. The fourth-year swingman is averaging 17.2 points, 5.3 rebounds, 5.6 assists, 1.7 steals and 0.5 blocks per game while shooting 45% from the floor, 31% from deep and 84% at the line. His points and field goal percentage are at their lowest point since his rookie season.

That is to be expected for a 24-year-old coming off major surgery that has limited his practice time and forced him to miss training camp limiting his reps to basically just those he gets within the game.

However, along the way, he has proven that while he wants for the touch on his jumper to return to form, he can still be an extremely effective and valuable piece for Oklahoma City.

"We're really not going to overreact to a period of time. I think he's still working back. He's healthy, but I think he's still working through a new normal as it relates to his wrist and he's doing a good job of that," Head Coach Mark Daigneault said. "He's getting lost in the team. He's competing. He's still impactful and he's only going to get more rhythm. He's only going to get more comfortable and confident in his physical ability to do what he needs to do as time goes on."

Against the Atlanta Hawks this week, Williams produced 20 points by simply getting downhill with force and converting at the cup routinely while shooting his third most free throws on the season. That has been a trend in his best work so far, disregarding his typically smooth stroke in the mid-range and from distance and instead just getting to the cup at will.

Williams has the frame to do that routinely until he can more comfortable catapult shots to the rim.

Where the Santa Clara product is still playing at an All-NBA level is in every other aspect, truly. He is gobbling up rebounds at a high clip for his size/position, he has taken great strides as a passer, posting five-plus assists in all but three games to this point in the season and being a swiss-army knife on the defensive end of the floor, turning in just one game without a steal or block on the season. According to Synergy, he grades out as an excellent defender, ranking in the 89th percentile of the entire NBA on total defensive possessions.

Once the jump shot comes back to Williams, it will not only be smooth sailing for him, but he will return to the top 25 player in the league he was with ease.