The Oklahoma City Thunder used their 34th overall pick on Jaylin Williams out of the University of Arkansas, making him the second of his name to be selected by the organization in last July’s NBA Draft. So far, he has not carved out a niche in the NBA, playing just seven NBA games, averaging three points, two rebounds, and an assist in eight minutes of action per game.
Jaylin Williams has spent the majority of his rookie season with the Thunder’s NBA G-League affiliate the OKC Blue. Last week in the NBA G-Leauge Winter Showcase in Vegas, the team lost their big man due to a concussion.
Jaylin Williams returns from his concussion and continues to dominate the NBA G-League and earns first career triple-double
The Arkansas Product cleared concussion protocols and returned to the floor on Tuesday afternoon as the OKC Blue matched up with the Sioux Falls Skyforce (Miami Heat affiliate) \.
The 20-year-old big man that stands 6’10 and weighs in at 240 is still a project for the Oklahoma City organization. A consistent message that has been sent to Williams from Blue head coach Kameron Woods and Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault has been playing with more “force”, especially on the offensive end.
Jaylin Williams has lived up to the challenge, in the first 12 minutes of action Williams poured in nine points, grabbed three rebounds, and dished four assists on 3-of-4 shooting from the floor. Along with playing excellent rim defense and communicating at a high level to allow the team to thrive on that end of the floor.
Perhaps the biggest area in that Williams impacts the game is his ability to playmaker out of the high post and create space for three-point shooters by laying hard screens and using his body to separate defenders from their man on dribble hand-offs.
For an Oklahoma City Thunder team that ranks 23rd in three-point percentage, and with certain lineups that can struggle to create an open triple, Williams provides a ton of potential value for the Thunder especially late in games when the team that is not designed for distance shooting has to have a triple.
Jaylin Williams finished with his first career triple-double logging 21 points, 12 assists, and 14 rebounds, and three steals while shooting 60 percent from the floor as the OKC Blue battled down to the wire against the Skyforce.
The OKC Blue held on to win over the Skyforce as Jaylin Williams led the way in the points, rebounds, assists, and steals column.