Now in his third season in the association, Jalen Williams has officially established himself as an unquestionable current and future cornerstone of this promising OKC Thunder foundation.
From his elite inside-out offensive production to the astonishing positional versatility he's displayed amid the injury-induced adversities Oklahoma City has faced in 2024-25, the 23-year-old has managed to set himself apart from many of the sub-25 talents strewn across the league.
Come February, we could realistically even end up seeing him be selected to partake in his first NBA All-Star Game as a result of his impressive play.
Yet, despite the much-deserved praise and adoration he's received from fans, pundits, and players throughout the association, there are still areas within Jalen Williams' game that could be improved upon.
As recently pointed out by the folks at Bleacher Report, arguably the most notable aspect of his arsenal that may benefit from a bit of honing is his ability to lead the charge as a focal point weapon or, more specifically, without the likes of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander running alongside him.
B/R urges Thunder wing Jalen Williams to prove himself as go-to scorer
Though writer Grant Hughes acknowledged that Williams ranks as high as fifth in the league in Estimated Plus/Minus and is believed to be "on track to make his first All-NBA and All-Defensive teams," he still feels that there are some serious limitations to his league-wide star-status.
In his eyes, a major reason for this is his lack of experience as a reliable "run the show" type of player.
For the entirety of his career, the forward has had the luxury of going up against defenses highly fixated on slowing down Gilgeous-Alexander, thus leading to cleaner looks and less cluttered driving lanes for him individually. Because of this, it would make sense that he's not as used to serving as a self-sufficient creator with the guard off the floor.
However, for this matter, reasoning does not cancel out sheer statistics.
As Hughes made clear in his analysis, the advanced metrics certainly seem to back up this claim with the seasoned B/R writer highlighting that "OKC puts up 115.3 points per 100 possessions with Williams on the floor but manages just 104.7 when he plays without Shai Gilgeous-Alexander."
On top of this, his findings would reveal that Williams "ranks in the 38th percentile in scoring efficiency as a pick-and-roll ball-handler and the 43rd on isolation plays."
As worded in the piece, figuring out a way to solve these particular discrepancies "could make the difference between them winning a championship or not."
Now, while such a statement may seem to be a bit dramatic (especially because we're talking about a 21.7 point per game scorer on 50.0 percent shooting), when looking at past NBA Finals winners it seems to be quite accurate.
Over the last five seasons alone, just once has a league champion seen a double-digit difference in points per 100 possession totals with their second-best scoring option on the floor without their first (the 2022-23 Denver Nuggets).
The rest saw negligible differences, with some such as the reigning champion Boston Celtics even seeing a positive increase in such a metric.
Of course, one could argue these stats may be a bit blown out of proportion when considering it's based on such a small sample size this year (both Williams and Gilgeous-Alexander have played 547 of their 802.4 and 861.0 respective minutes together), but, even with this, history suggests such a stark contrast could theoretically hinder the title aspirations of the Thunder if not addressed.
Through this point in the season, it's more than evident that the Thunder have managed to succeed despite this arguable drawback in play -- not only do they sport the third-best record in the entire league but they are just one win away from being crowned Emirates NBA Cup Champions.
However, over the next several months leading into the playoffs, perhaps it may be wise for them to work on making J-Dub a sturdy and impactful go-to option while SGA finds himself taking a breather on the sidelines.
Bleacher Report's statistical digging has unearthed an interesting factoid about OKC's game that holds a historically impactful correlation with title runs.
At the very least, how Jalen Williams produces on offense with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander out of the game is something that should be monitored moving forward.