The Oklahoma City Thunder shifted their entire focus to the 2022 NBA Draft a year ago, and they selected four new players, including three Lottery prospects, in last month’s draft. With the 12th pick, Thunder General Manager Sam Presti selected Jalen Williams out of the University of Santa Clara. That made him the highest draft pick from Santa Clara since legendary point guard Steve Nash.
Jalen Williams is one of three lottery picks for the OKC Thunder and was a fast riser at the NBA Draft Combine after entering the draft pool at age 21. Williams was a knock-down shooter last season, stroking the three-ball at a 39 percent clip, averaging 18 points, four assists, and a steal per contest. Much like Chet Holmgren, Williams made his professional debut on Tuesday and did not disappoint.
Jalen Williams looks stellar in his Oklahoma City Thunder debut showing flashes of his scoring potential against the Utah Jazz in his first Summer League game
If the Oklahoma City Thunder did not have Chet Holmgren on this same roster, Jalen Williams would be stealing all the deadlines. This is a great “problem” to have, making this young roster a dominant one after Chet Holmgren’s perfect NBA Summer League debut, not one is talking about how great Williams looked.
Jalen Williams showed off what type of scorer he can be in the NBA, and showed the value in every player on the floor being a playmaker. Williams poured in 17 points, hauled in five rebounds, and shot 72 percent from the floor.
Williams was excellent at cutting to the rim, and his playmaking nature allowed him to understand how to get behind defenders on cuts and how to relocate without the ball to find the soft spot of the defense leading to buckets.
Jalen Williams’s rim finishing was incredible, mix that with his perimeter shooting and you can see the potential of a really quality score-first swiss-army knife. How many Thunder players on this roster do you trust to go get a bucket on their own or put the team in a position to score, or even be a play-finisher? The list is not all that long, and Williams can fill each need.
While it was just a small taste of what the Santa Clara product can do, there is a lot to look forward to with his scoring and play-finishing potential.
Chet Holmgren is going to deservedly steal all the headlines for his historic performance, but do not forget just how good Jalen Williams was in his Summer League debut.