Following a year three breakout with the OKC Thunder, during which he helped spearhead the charge to an NBA Championship as the number two option and earned All-Star, All-NBA, and All-Defensive honors along the way, Jalen Williams has thrust himself into the conversation of being one of the best players in the association.
ESPN's Tim MacMahon recently went as far as to say that he's officially reached "elite status."
On Thursday morning, GM Sam Presti revealed what, exactly, makes the 24-year-old such a tremendous difference-maker.
Sam Presti pinpoints what makes Thunder star Jalen Williams 'unique'
During his annual preseason press conference, the storied executive went into depth about what, in particular, makes Williams so "unique" as a player. While there are a number of things that could have been highlighted (his sound scoring touch, positional versatility, etc.), to Presti, what truly seems to stand out is his his ability to give everything he has on both ends of the floor.
"The thing about Dub that I think makes him so unique is he's got an engine that runs on both ends of the floor. That's such a huge foundation. It gives him such a high floor as a player," Presti said.
To Thunder fans, this is far from a shocking take by Presti. Above everything, however, it's one that's undeniably true.
Last season, Williams put this two-way engine on full display for all the world to see, as he established himself as one of the game's most versitile talents. The forward went on to drop career-best averages of 21.6 points, 5.3 rebounds, 5.1 assists, 1.7 steals, and just shy of a block while shooting 48.4 percent from the floor and 36.5 percent from deep.
On top of this, he would also rank 10 in the NBA in defensive rating (106.5) among those who saw 60 or more games played and was publicly labeled "one of the three or four most switchable defenders in the league," by Sam Vecenie of The Athletic.
Whether he was slotted in as the club's primary wing (his natural position) or as the starting center (where he posted averages of 26.2 points, 7.3 rebounds, 5.7 assists, 2.7 steals, and 1.2 blocks and sported a defensive rating of 108.7 through six games), the uncommon "engine" that Presti noted about J-Dub was constantly running through all 69 games he played in 2024-25.
With his sensational hustle and efforts, it should come as no surprise that Williams was just recently ranked the 11-best player the association currently has to offer.
The scary part about all of this, of course, is that Presti strongly believes that he, along with his co-stars Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Chet Holmgren, is "still improving." If this proves to be the case, the rest of the league is simply not ready for just how elite of a player Williams can truly be.