June 23rd, 2022.
Masterful asset management, and a little bit of fate, had led the Oklahoma City Thunder to this moment. Two years of tanking, losing games in blowout fashion, and shutting down players had earned OKC the second overall draft choice, with which they would pick the next face of the franchise.
That pick eventually turned out to be Chet Holmgren, the long sought-after high school phenom, who had been famous ever since he went viral for cooking Steph Curry at his basketball camp.
After OKC selected Holmgren, it made another splash by trading three first-round picks to the New York Knicks in exchange for the rights to Ousmane Dieng, a raw, lanky near seven-footer with rapidly progressing guard skills, with the eleventh pick.
OKC had used some of their treasure trove of picks to get a prospect it coveted, pairing him with Holmgren to form a futuristic frontcourt of skinny, skilled big men with massive shooting upside.
The scene of Oklahoma City could only be described as pandemonium. The Thunder had secured their next franchise icon and someone who garnered pre-draft comparisons to Paul George in the same hour-long span. But quietly, in the midst of a citywide celebration, OKC had made one more lottery pick.
Santa Clara’s Jalen Williams was largely unknown following his final college season. He was a projected second-round pick, a solid college player with intriguing physical attributes, but was thought to have limited upside. When he initially declared for the NBA draft, he made the decision to retain his college eligibility just in case things went south, and he was ranked as ESPN’s Jonathan Givony’s No. 51 prospect. Definitely not the typical profile of a future NBA star.
Fast forward to the combine and Williams was making his name known. He was turning heads left and right, and was grabbing the attention of teams and draft experts alike.
“Williams was the best player on the court in both days of the draft combine scrimmages. He got to the basket with ease, shot the ball well and had some of the best finishes in transition. Defensively, he fought through screens to keep his man in front and was effective in help-side defense, shooting the gap for steals and tips.”
Krysten Peek of Yahoo Sports said in one of her mock drafts.
He made enough of an impression that he rose to the mid to late first-round conversation, but with the assets to get any pick they wanted, and two lottery picks already in hand, OKC had other ideas.
The situation was eerily reminiscent of the 2008 draft. OKC had the fourth overall pick, and draft pundits had been linking them to Brook Lopez and Kevin Love for months, but a skinny, defensive-minded shooting guard out of UCLA had caught the eye of Sam Presti. That shooting guard was of course Russell Westbrook, who would go on to be the greatest player to ever wear Thunder blue and became one of the elite point guards of his generation.
The basketball world was shocked. Westbrook was highly thought of, much more so than Williams, but the thought process was that he would be drafted in the middle of the lottery, and his athletic upside didn’t hold a candle to the certainty of Love.
Fourteen drafts later, Presti pulled off another shocker, drafting Williams 12th overall, betting on a multi-year college player (just like Westbrook) to blossom into one of the league’s premier players.
Looking back, maybe the NBA world should learn to trust Presti when he pulls off a “shocker”.
Williams has quickly ascended the proverbial NBA ladder, going from “interesting young asset” to “future star” in one and a half short seasons.
“J-Dub” as he has become affectionately known, showed flashes of brilliance as a rookie, but in his second season, he has become arguably OKC’s second-best player.
The rim-rocking dunks that he often relied on during his rookie season have transformed into tough, controlled finishes, and when he isn’t slithering his way through multiple defenders for a basket at the rim, he is now pulling back on a dime and draining contested midrange buckets.
He also added something of a signature shot to his repertoire in December of this season. It starts with Williams driving hard to the rim, typically from right to left, in a horizontal line. His sudden acceleration results in the defender getting stuck to his back hip, giving him a positional advantage as soon as he takes off. He motions as if he is going to bruise his way to the rim, but to the surprise of his defender, he keeps running, seemingly as fast as he can, and pulls up for a jumper that hovers around the elbow, with his momentum still carrying him away from the poor soul who was given Dub as their assignment. When it’s going in, it’s virtually unguardable.
The influence of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is clear when watching Williams. His unfathomable finishes, midrange marksmanship, and unexpected defensive prowess are all reflections of OKC’s resident MVP candidate, but over the past few games, Williams has shown rapid development in his playmaking. While SGA is a good passer, the leaps Dub has taken in the realm of the pass, like so many facets of his game, can be tied back to his basketball pursuits before he was on anyone’s NBA draft radar.
As a sophomore in high school, Williams was just 5’10. Yes, one of the NBA’s shimmering young stars was hardly taller than the average American during most of his High School and Prep career. By the time he was a senior, he had grown to a modest 6’2, and had begun to display the skills that would eventually lead him to NBA stardom. He was named the offensive player of the year in his district when he averaged more than 25 points per game in a competitive high school scene, but due to his size, the offers never came.
Come signing day, Williams was deciding between Santa Clara, Nevada, and Hofstra. Little did the Broncos know the only signing of their 2019 class would grow four more inches, and become one of the elite players in the WCC. When Williams grew, so did his scoring, rebounding, and defensive ability, but one thing always remained the same, his playmaking.
Despite being a 6’6 offensive powerhouse with a 7’3 wingspan, Williams’ days as an undersized point guard have never left him, nor has his ability to create for others.
Williams’ passing chops were largely dormant early in his NBA career while he watched, and learned from Gilgeous-Alexander, but ever since OKC decided to put the ball in his hands, the magic has returned.
Oklahoma City’s recent matchup with Utah provided a great example.
In the midst of a fourth-quarter takeover, Williams drove hard to the rim, drawing in Cason Wallace’s defender from the corner. Just then, Williams looked to his left, reached deep into the bag he developed back in his time meandering around Perry High School, and fired a pass to Wallace with one hand. It looked like your favorite pitcher’s fastball as it sliced through the Utah air, and it was placed perfectly in the shooting pocket of Wallace, who of course drained it.
Williams could be the point guard of the future for most NBA teams, but in OKC, he technically plays power forward. Regardless of where he is listed in the box score, Williams brings an uncommon ability to pass to the floor. Over his last ten games, he is averaging nearly six assists a game, while only being given the primary creator role when SGA is on the bench.
Whatever his role has been, at any level, he has thrived, and with each passing game, it becomes more and more clear that OKC has itself another special player.
Williams is playing like a future superstar, impacting the game in any way one could possibly imagine.
The stats speak for themselves in the case of Williams, but as good as they are, they still don’t do this guy justice. He is effective on all three levels as a scorer, he has rediscovered his lead guard-level passing skills over the past handful of games, and he can challenge your favorite player on the defensive end.
He is not just a blossoming megastar, but he is the perfect one for Oklahoma City. Just as so many stars who have passed through the Thunder organization have, he has that “it” factor. Maybe it’s the flamboyant pregame fits, maybe it’s his YouTube channel where he communicates with fans, or maybe it’s nothing more than the bubbly enthusiasm he brings to the floor night in and night out.
Whatever “it” is, J-Dub has it in spades, and if anyone who calls themselves a fan of the NBA doesn’t know his name, they’d better learn it, because the next thing they know, he’ll drop 30 on the head of your favorite team’s best defensive player.
So, if you aren’t already familiar with Williams, get acquainted, because the same guy who had fans asking “Who?” just two years ago has burst onto the scene, and he’s not going anywhere anytime soon.
