Jalen Williams is Primed for Key Second Year Role

The Oklahoma City Thunder had an incredible 2022 NBA Draft. The draft included the runner-up for the Rookie of the Year, and their No. 2 overall pick in the draft hasn’t even played yet.

Jalen Williams was selected twelfth overall in the draft, and put together an incredible campaign that led to the All-Rookie First Team campaign.

Amidst his first season, there was no rookie wall for Williams. With every opportunity, Williams rose to the occasion and continued to show more and more flashes of an incredible player.

This leads to the potential for next season. Sophomore slumps are incredibly real, but the Santa Clara product may be able to avoid that.

As an older rookie, there seemed to have been less growing for Williams. He’s going to be 22-years-old for the majority of his second year, and his age may been an advantage in this case.

Normally, sophomore slumps come from these players being put on scouting reports and being much more respected. Williams is going to be the third or fourth option on most nights, and he will do so efficiently. Teams aren’t going to game plan against a player that can be efficient with a small amount of touches when his teammates are Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Josh Giddey and Chet Holmgren.

Sure, Williams might not have too many 20+ point games when his shot volume is presumably down, but there’s no reason he can’t continue being an efficient player that contributes greatly to winning basketball games.

With another draft pick coming in and Holmgren making his way to the lineup after missing his first season, Williams will have less and less pressure to be consistently incredible, and this may add another layer of comfort to his game, and help him play more confidently.

Though Williams’ role doesn’t include shooting an absurd amount of shots, he certainly makes a huge impact on both sides of the ball and, having secured a starting position, will be able to continue to do so in his second season.

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