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

Despite not being in the top 25 in any major statistical category, Oklahoma City Thunder rookie Jaylin Williams was perhaps the stand-out player of the 2022/23 G-League Showcase Cup.

Seasons in the G-League are currently divided into what is essentially three parts – the opening Showcase Cup, the main regular season, and then the postseason. The Showcase Cup is essentially a mini-league, with teams splitting into four divisions (known as “pods” for whatever reason) and playing an 18-game schedule, before a single-game elimination tournament to end it.

In that Cup, the Thunder’s G-League affiliate, the Oklahoma City Blue, featured the assigned Williams 11 times. And in those games, plus one regular season appearance so far, he averaged 14.7 points, 8.8 rebounds, 5.8 assists and 1.5 steals per contest.

More impressive still were the efficiency metrics on which he did this. Williams shot 62.7% from the field, including 36.0% from three-point range on two attempts per game, and added 72.7% shooting from the free throw line for a staggering .755 true shooting percentage. For a focal offensive player to score that efficiently is eye-catching; for such an important playmaker to also average that many assists alongside only 2.3 turnovers per game is doubly so. Especially considering these were some of the first professional basketball games of his career.

The past tense is used above because, of course, Williams is no longer with the Blue. Even after only twelve games, it was clear he had outgrown it.

Since being recalled for the last time on 28th December, he has instead been with the big league team, and his season splits tell a similar story there too. In 21.5 minutes of 12 February games, Williams has averaged 7.9 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game on an even 50.0% shooting, flanked by a mighty 51.7% from three-point range, from where he has shot more regularly than two-point range.

Suffice it to say that already, in only the first three months of his pro career, he has shown a lot of weapons, and tantalising versatility.

Drafted 34th in the 2022 NBA Draft out of Arkansas, Williams has an innate package of hands, touch, timing, positioning, awareness, patience and decision-making that is highly advanced in a 20-year-old. He will screen, can roll, passes off of those rolls, and seems to have an innate chemistry with opposing ball-handlers even if he has never played with them before. And it also appears he can shoot from range.

What prevented Williams from being a first-round talent was a lack of top-tier athleticism, combined with not being the strongest or most physical of players, leading to questions about where he would play defensively. That, and the fact that for all his dribble hand-off mastery, advanced handles for his height and constant motion out on the perimeter, he could not (and would not) regularly shoot from there.

The latter of these, though, looks to already be getting remedied. And as for the defensive prognosis, the good hands and awareness come into play there, too.

Much as the Thunder continue to languish near the cellar of the NBA – third-last in the concertina of a Western Conference despite only just having a below-.500 record – they do not figure to be there for much longer. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has already ascended to the All-Star tier, dragging his team up with him, and triple-double machine Josh Giddey is not far behind him. The seasons of stockpiling young players and assets has led to the creation of a strong core of players who are growing together, and with Chet Holmgren set to return next season, the Thunder could be primed for a big leap forward.

If they do indeed make one, then Jaylin Williams will be a part of it, not a passenger. He has played his way into the rotation in short order, never seems to have a bad game, and has a package of skills that are not easy to find at the big man spots. Perhaps he never will be a plus-NBA defender in his career. But then, since when has everyone had to be?