Jalen Williams reveals 'biggest thing' learned since becoming starting center

With all three of Jaylin Williams, Isaiah Hartenstein, and now Chet Holmgren sidelined with injuries, the OKC Thunder have been forced to roll with astonishingly small five-man lineups.

Outside of their new-look units regularly consisting of three to four guards on the floor, perhaps most noteworthy about this recent experimentation is that 6-foot-5 Jalen Williams has found himself slotting in as the club's new starting pivot.

Considering his size and specific on-court intangibles, the third-year pro certainly projects more as a natural three than a big. However, after being tasked with manning the four during Oklahoma City's top-seeded run in 2023-24, J-Dub is now once again being called upon to play beyond his stature and take on duties as coach Mark Daigneault's primary five.

Interestingly enough, this trial run has not gone poorly. In fact, one could say its been quite succesful.

Since sliding Williams down to center, the Thunder are 2-0 and have ranked seventh in points per-game (120.0), third in offensive rating (122.4), and fourth in net rating (12.2).

On top of this, the 23-year-old has seemingly been playing at an entirely new level, as he's showcasing his all-around skill set with monstrous averages of 29.5 points, 7.0 rebounds, 6.5 assists, 3.0 steals, and 1.0 blocks while shooting 61.8 percent from the field and 60.0 percent from distance.

Now, though this may only be from over a limited two-game sample size, they have both been when Jalen Williams has been squaring off against objectively more physical and dominating assignments in the likes of LA's Ivica Zubac and New Orleans's Yves Missi.

Managing to hold his own, let alone excel in such matchups is an undoubtedly impressive accomplishment and, during a post-practice media session ahead of Friday's Emirates NBA Cup opener against the Phoenix Suns, Williams opened up on his newly adopted strategy to playing center, specifically highlighting "the biggest thing" he's learned along the way.

Jalen Williams opens up on serving as new starting center for Thunder

"Just be physical and know where you want to guide them on the court. Know where your help is. I think it just comes down to competing. I think the biggest thing is you don't want to always be on the defense end of contact so sometimes you have to kind of start it and that's going to be that gage of what's going on in the game," Williams said.

It's become evident since making the switch to center that Williams has been playing with a larger emphasis on intensity and physicality on both ends of the court.

However, what makes this uptick all the more impressive is that he's tallied just five personal fouls total along the way, which averages out to 2.5, a number that's actually less than the 2.9 he was averaging before the shift.

Granted, as he suggested in his strategy assessment, the help he's received from teammates throughout this whole process has been extremely beneficial, and credit for that goes both to his running mates and coach Daigneault.

Still, the fact that they have Jalen Williams, a borderline guard, slotting in at center, and the Thunder have yet to miss a beat is a true testimony to this team's and, frankly, J-Dub's elite versatility and ability to cope with any challenges that come their way.