Jalen Williams’ Two-Way Impact Sparks Thunder’s Recent Success

This time last year, Jalen Williams was projected to be a late second-round pick, or even undrafted in the 2022 NBA Draft. Following a strong close to his junior season and a fantastic pre-draft process, he skyrocketed up boards and landed in the lottery at No. 12 overall to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Just over six months later, it already appears that he should have been taken even higher than that. A lot will change in the coming years, but as of today an argument could be made that Williams should have been a top five selection.

The offensive production of the Thunder rookie has been loud through the first half of the season, as he’s been one of the best in his class on that end of the floor. He’s sixth among all rookies in scoring with 11.7 points per game, fourth in assists with 2.9 per contest and third among rookie guards in rebounds with 3.9 per game. He’s shooting better than 50% from the floor, making him the only rookie shooting above that clip that’s also top ten in scoring.

As good as his offensive game has been, Williams’ improved defense of late is really what’s made the difference for the surging Thunder, who are just two games below .500 and one of the hottest teams in the league since the turn of the calendar year.

Williams has produced 38 steals and 21 blocks, which is good for fifth and seventh among all rookies respectively. The blocks are the most among any guard in this class.

He’s produced 10 multi-steal games, including three with at least four takeaways and one with five. He’s also notched 17 games with a block, including three multi-block games. What’s more impressive is that he’s only played in 40 games to this point in the season, meaning he’s notched at least two steals in a quarter of his contests and at least one block in nearly half.

Among rookies that play at least 15 minutes per night and have taken the floor in 20 games, Williams is eighth among all rookies in individual defensive rating. Using that same criteria, he’s top ten in both steal and block percentage, as well as top three in defensive win shares.

To some, the defensive upside is surprising. With that in mind, we should have seen this coming. As a freshman at Santa Clara, defense is what initially got him on the floor.

Now a seemingly permanent starter, the 21-year-old is thriving on both ends of the floor. Leveraging his 7-foot-2 wingspan, Williams is able to play upwards of four positions which has proven extremely valuable to this unique, switchable Thunder team.

He’s started in 18-straight games, with Oklahoma City going 10-8 over that span, good for the 11th best record in the NBA during that time. Over these 18 contests, he’s been a huge reason the Thunder have been successful, producing 12.9 points, 4.7 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.3 steals and 0.8 blocks per contest.

On many nights over the past few weeks, Williams has been OKC’s second or third best player, playing well beyond his years. While he continues to build his NBA All-Rookie resume, the defense has been equally impressive as the offense.