The Oklahoma City Thunder selected Jalen Williams with the 12th pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, one of three lottery picks for the OKC Thunder. This season, the Santa Clara product impacted winning, playing at a high level during his rookie campaign. This earned Williams a ton of buzz, including runner-up for the Rookie of the Year award.
Now, the lottery pick will add another honor to his resume. Jalen Williams has been tab as a first-team all-rookie member. He earned 99 out of 100 first-team votes, with one voter placing Williams on the second-team list.
The Oklahoma City Thunder saw Jalen Williams be placed on the All-Rookie team—just the second player with such an honor in franchise history.
Jalen Williams made first team All-Rookie. Full results: pic.twitter.com/JDxlPjTD9j
— Rylan Stiles (@Rylan_Stiles) May 8, 2023
Despite some confusion and jokes across Twitter, we discovered that the lone first-place vote for second-round rookie big man Jaylin Williams was not intended for the first-round wing Jalen Williams. But, for better or worse, that was just the voter’s opinion, Howard Beck reports.
For those wondering about the first-team vote for Jaylin Williams: I’m told by the NBA that there was no confusion regarding Jalen/Jaylin. In fact, the ballot with Jaylin had both players on the first team. https://t.co/ZARt6YN2Oz
— Howard Beck (@HowardBeck) May 8, 2023
Jalen Williams deserved this first-team nod as he averaged 14 points, four rebounds, three assists, and 1.9 STOCKS (steals plus blocks) per game. All while turning in impressive shooting splits of 52/35/81. Williams was outstanding at the rim, finishing at a 70 percent clip, and stroked non-corner triples at a 39 percent clip.
Synergy places Jalen Williams in the “average” category on overall defense, including excellent isolation stats that put him in the 79th percentile. That is an incredible mark for a rookie and shows his upside on that end of the floor.
Jalen Williams’ offensive portfolio, defensive upside, and versatility have OKC Thunder fans salivating over what he could be in the future. Dating back to training camp, Kenrich Williams has tabbed the Santa Clara product as a future All-Star.