Jaylin Williams Is Already A Key Piece For The Oklahoma City Thunder

Regardless of not being within the prime 25 in any main statistical class, Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder rookie Jaylin Williams was maybe the stand-out participant of the 2022/23 G-League Showcase Cup.

Seasons within the G-League are at the moment divided into what is basically three components – the opening Showcase Cup, the primary common season, after which the postseason. The Showcase Cup is basically a mini-league, with groups splitting into 4 divisions (referred to as “pods” for no matter purpose) and taking part in an 18-game schedule, earlier than a single-game elimination event to finish it.

In that Cup, the Thunder’s G-League affiliate, the Oklahoma Metropolis Blue, featured the assigned Williams 11 instances. And in these video games, plus one common season look to this point, he averaged 14.7 factors, 8.8 rebounds, 5.8 assists and 1.5 steals per contest.

Extra spectacular nonetheless have been the effectivity metrics on which he did this. Williams shot 62.7% from the sphere, together with 36.0% from three-point vary on two makes an attempt per sport, and added 72.7% capturing from the free throw line for a staggering .755 true capturing proportion. For a focal offensive participant to attain that effectively is eye-catching; for such an vital playmaker to additionally common that many assists alongside solely 2.3 turnovers per sport is doubly so. Particularly contemplating these have been among the first skilled basketball video games of his profession.

The previous tense is used above as a result of, in fact, Williams is not with the Blue. Even after solely twelve video games, it was clear he had outgrown it.

Since being recalled for the final time on twenty eighth December, he has as a substitute been with the massive league crew, and his season splits inform an identical story there too. In 21.5 minutes of 12 February video games, Williams has averaged 7.9 factors, 5.5 rebounds and 1.9 assists per sport on a fair 50.0% capturing, flanked by a mighty 51.7% from three-point vary, from the place he has shot extra frequently than two-point vary.

Suffice it to say that already, in solely the primary three months of his professional profession, he has proven a whole lot of weapons, and tantalising versatility.

Drafted thirty fourth within the 2022 NBA Draft out of Arkansas, Williams has an innate bundle of fingers, contact, timing, positioning, consciousness, endurance and decision-making that’s extremely superior in a 20-year-old. He’ll display, can roll, passes off of these rolls, and appears to have an innate chemistry with opposing ball-handlers even when he has by no means performed with them earlier than. And it additionally seems he can shoot from vary.

What prevented Williams from being a first-round expertise was an absence of top-tier athleticism, mixed with not being the strongest or most bodily of gamers, resulting in questions on the place he would play defensively. That, and the truth that for all his dribble hand-off mastery, superior handles for his top and fixed movement out on the perimeter, he couldn’t (and wouldn’t) frequently shoot from there.

The latter of those, although, appears to already be getting remedied. And as for the defensive prognosis, the nice fingers and consciousness come into play there, too.

A lot because the Thunder proceed to languish close to the cellar of the NBA – third-last within the concertina of a Western Convention regardless of solely simply having a below-.500 report – they don’t determine to be there for for much longer. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has already ascended to the All-Star tier, dragging his crew up with him, and triple-double machine Josh Giddey shouldn’t be far behind him. The seasons of stockpiling younger gamers and belongings has led to the creation of a powerful core of gamers who’re rising collectively, and with Chet Holmgren set to return subsequent season, the Thunder could possibly be primed for a giant leap ahead.

In the event that they do certainly make one, then Jaylin Williams might be part of it, not a passenger. He has performed his approach into the rotation in brief order, by no means appears to have a nasty sport, and has a bundle of abilities that aren’t straightforward to search out on the massive man spots. Maybe he by no means might be a plus-NBA defender in his profession. However then, since when has everybody needed to be?