Early in his rookie marketing campaign with the Oklahoma City Thunder, Jalen Williams has carried out much more than pave his approach into the beginning lineup constantly. Against the Atlanta Hawks final night time, Williams did his finest to point out his ceiling with the squad.
To assume that within the younger Thunder’s prime, they may have 4 All-Star skills on the squad, although one or two will constantly be left off the staff naturally, is wild.
Back to his recreation towards the Hawks, the No. 12 decide scored 24 factors on 11-of-16 taking pictures, 5 rebounds and 4 steals. Not solely did he stuff the stat sheet, his performs had been game-swinging, impactful performs.
With roughly a minute and a half remaining in final night time’s recreation, the Thunder had been down by seven factors. Williams stuffed Trae Young’s excessive arcing floater, which led to a fastbreak dunk for himself.
About a minute later, down three factors, Williams swiped the ball from Young, who was dribbling out the clock, which led to one more breakaway dunk.
Those performs are performs that stars make, and the 6-foot-6 guard is displaying that he’s obtained the makings of a star. The dunks and explosive defensive performs weren’t the one promising performs from final night time. He additionally confirmed he can rating in any respect three ranges of the ground effectively, although he solely shot and made one 3-pointer.
Based on the place Williams began the season – incomes and sealing his spot as a starter on this squad – he’s carried out greater than sufficient to earn the beginning spot alongside Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Josh Giddey, Lu Dort and Chet Holmgren subsequent season.
His efficiency these days – not simply final night time – has proven that Williams can present an all-around recreation on each side of the ball. His wingspan permits his ceiling on protection to stay limitless, and taking part in alongside gamers like Gilgeous-Alexander and Giddey will open up the offensive world for him.
Averaging 11.8 factors per recreation on the season, Williams has scored a median of 12.8 factors per recreation for the reason that calendar 12 months turned over, and is constantly displaying indicators of enchancment. He’s going to make his approach into the nationwide media’s top-5 Rookie of the Year rankings constantly.
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