Williams is 6 feet 5 inches tall, weighs 96 kilograms, and has a wingspan of 219 centimeters. He is fast enough to defend defenders, and he is tall and strong enough to defend some four-position players, plus he has a solid and tall backcourt. Teammates, including 6-foot-8 Josh Giddey and 6-foot-6 Gilgeous-Alexander, allow him to easily move between four positions on both offense and defense. This trait makes him undoubtedly a good addition to the rebuilding team. An integral part…
Jalen William was ranked 24th in the forward-looking list of the NBA’s 25 best young players under the age of 25 (25 under 25) in the 2023-24 season by the foreign media sports website.
When almost everyone puts together a puzzle, they look for the corner pieces first, because they may be the rarest pieces in the box, but they are also the easiest to identify. The two straight edges establish their position. , begins to shape the structure of the entire puzzle and determines the relationship between the other puzzle pieces and them.
In the NBA team-building puzzle, those side puzzles are star players. These rare players are good enough to build a team around them, and their characteristics are outstanding enough to be required to be placed in the foundation position.
This metaphor of puzzle and reconstruction may not hold true in some specific cases, but from the Thunder’s perspective, it is a quite appropriate expression. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is a piece of the puzzle, and so is Chet Holmgren, but Jalen Williams is not, and he doesn’t have those straight edges.
But Williams is the most important connector, that piece of serendipitous discovery and realization that not only do you know where it should be, but that it connects the pieces you had previously put together separately.
Jalen Williams is one of the Thunder’s most important pieces.
The Thunder selected Williams with the 12th overall pick in the 2022 draft, which is a happy fate for a player whose draft stock is rising. He was considered a capable, high-floor prospect at the time, but not exactly a high-ceiling game-changer.
Williams was 21 years old when he entered the draft. He came from a smaller school, was already a junior, and his athletic ability was not outstanding. However, his advantage in being picked is his versatility, both in terms of physical fitness and skills.
That year, the Thunder selected Chet Holmgren with the second pick, and were lucky enough to select Williams, who was relatively safe.
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You probably already know the rest of the story.
Williams made a splash in his rookie season, serving as a starter in 62 games, averaging 14.1 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.4 steals per game, with a true shooting percentage of 60.1%. He can shoot open 3s, keep running in transition, and knows how to cut in the open space with a USG% below 20 (an offensive standard where finishing duties are shared among all five players).
He has also shown the ability to increase his importance when the situation calls for it. His scoring efficiency in pick-and-rolls is 61% in the league, and his scoring efficiency in isolation is as high as 81%. He may not be a high-level, high-volume creator like James Harden, but he has shown some talent as a secondary creator, which should make the Thunder more capable if they make the playoffs. There is plasticity.
Williams is 6 feet 5 inches tall, weighs 96 kilograms, and has a wingspan of 219 centimeters. He is fast enough to defend defenders, and he is tall and strong enough to defend some four-position players, plus he has a solid and tall backcourt. Teammates, including 6-foot-8 Josh Giddey and 6-foot-6 Gilgeous-Alexander, allow him to easily move between four positions on both offense and defense. This trait makes him undoubtedly a good addition to the rebuilding team. Indispensable part.
With Chet Holmgren at the five position, coupled with four shooters and an offensive creator among them, the Thunder not only unlocked a 5-out lineup, but Williams and Gilgeous-Alexander, who have a wingspan of more than 200 centimeters, were surrounded by Ousmane Dieng, Jaylin Williams and Holmgren. Unlocked the super large “Pterodactyl” lineup.
On a roster filled with players with every skill set and size, Williams has everything to fill in the gaps for everyone else.
In addition to the above, he has more potential that can be developed in the game, including improving his three-point shooting percentage. His 37.8% open shot shooting rate and 33.3% jump shot shooting rate last season are theoretically possible and should be improved this season. The season has improved.
He’s still learning how to use the tools he has – whether it’s his dribbling skills, his change of pace or his vision – to be able to face defenders at this level, and that will help as he continues to gain experience.
The biggest advantage for Williams may be the structure the Thunder continue to build. Now that he has better players around him, he will naturally play easier. As the players around him grow, head coach Mark Daigneault is better able to use the weapons at his disposal to take advantage and defeat opponents.
Williams may not be a star player, but he is a versatile magic weapon. If the Thunder can make better use of him to solve some difficult and complex problems, it will be beneficial to the Thunder’s goal of reaching the playoffs this season and competing for the championship in the future. , he will undoubtedly be as important as the rest of the core on the roster.
2023-11-03 12:45:37
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