The Oklahoma City Thunder have everything a team needs to win a championship. Their best player is an MVP candidate and the runaway leader in the race for the scoring title, the perimeter is flush with high-level defenders, the interior is as balanced as it is talented, and the second unit has a clear identity.
If the Thunder are going to evolve from paper favorites to NBA champions, however, then they need Jalen Williams to build momentum during the final week of the regular season.
Oklahoma City has clinched the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference, boasting a 64-14 record with four games to play. Over the course of the final week of the season, the Thunder will thus attempt to balance building positive momentum with protecting their players' health.
As far as the former is concerned, Williams more than others is a player in need of a strong end to the regular season.
Williams has turned in a memorable third season, increasing his averages from 2023-24 to 2024-25 in points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks, and three-point field goals made per game. He's been particularly brilliant since Feb. 1, averaging 21.8 points on .496/.410/.795 shooting.
If the Thunder are going to win it all, however, they'll need Williams to bring his current form into the postseason with him—and perhaps a little bit more.
Thunder need an assertive Jalen Williams in the playoffs
When the playoffs begin, Oklahoma City will know what to expect from MVP candidate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. The 26-year-old made quite a statement during the 2024 postseason, averaging 30.2 points, 7.2 rebounds, 6.4 assists, 1.7 blocks, 1.3 steals, and 1.6 three-point field goals made per game.
More importantly, Alexander-Walker did everything he could to put the team on his back during a second-round series loss to the Dallas Mavericks.
The loss to Dallas revealed the harsh and perhaps inevitable reality of Oklahoma City's roster. It's undoubtedly talented, having produced more than 120 wins over the past two regular seasons, but its primary scorers are young and inexperienced.
As such, when the Thunder reached the 2024 NBA Playoffs, the ideal structure was revealed as not yet in place as far as the scoring hierarchy is concerned.
Gilgeous-Alexander is arguably the best scorer in the NBA, and his pending scoring title establishes as much. Williams, meanwhile, gives the Thunder a bit of everything, including consistent scoring numbers and quality contributions as a distributor.
In a telling stretch, however, Williams averaged 14.0 points, 7.0 rebounds, 5.7 assists, and 2.3 steals between Games 3 and 5—during which time Oklahoma City lost two of three before being closed out in Game 6.
Jalen Williams: The perfect third star in a No. 2 role
Williams' ability to contribute in areas other than scoring when his shot isn't falling makes him a perfect candidate to be a championship-winning team's third star. With Gilgeous-Alexander as a true No. 1 scoring option and Chet Holmgren possessing unicorn potential, it's easy to see why Oklahoma City has empowered Williams in that regard.
Holmgren is a 22-year-old averaging 14.8 points per game in his second active NBA season, however, and injuries have limited him to just 32 appearances thus far.
As such, the Thunder are entering the playoffs in need of more than well-rounded, high-IQ basketball from Williams. They need him to be able to impose his scoring on a game, utilizing his shot to make as much of an impact as his playmaking, rebounding, and defense.
Perhaps that's an unfair ask of a player who provides so much value in every other phase of the game, but that's the reality of the roster that's been constructed.
In a perfect world, role players will continue to step up and the Thunder's deep rotation will thrive in the playoffs. Starters will realistically play more minutes during the postseason, however, and fellow contenders will target the supporting cast's respective weaknesses.
Whether fair or foul, Williams will need to develop more assertive tendencies as a scorer if the Thunder are going to realize their potential as NBA champions.
That process will begin during the final week of the regular season.