Oklahoma City is glad to have All-NBA swingman Jalen Williams back in the fold. The Santa Clara product missed the first 19 games of the season as he recovered from offseason wrist surgery to repair torn ligaments in his wrist sustained at the end of this past regular season but didn’t stop him from dominating in the NBA Finals to help the team bring home their first championship in franchise history.
So far, Williams has played in three games for the Bricktown Ballers this season, averaging 16.3 points, 5.0 rebounds, 6.3 assists and 2.7 stocks (steals plus blocks) while shooting 41% from the floor, 20% from beyond the arc and 100% at the charity stripe.
The All-Defensive swingman hasn’t lost a beat on that end of the floor. His versatility and frame has continued to allow him to shut down offensive actions, get deflections, steals and blocks while sparking transition chances and forcing the opposition into bad shots.
On the offensive end, Williams has really shined as a facilitator setting his teammates up for successful to rack up assists and easy buckets for the Thunder offensive. He has been leathal as a pick-and-roll facilitator and finding his teammates out of drives against a swarming defense looking to take away Williams scoring ability.
Through three games, Williams has cracked 20-plus points just once so far. This is to be expected as the All-NBA swingman works back into form. Though, there are plenty of indicators that his breakout will happen sooner rather than later.
Coupling with his already elite defensive prowess and playmaking chops that have never wavered in his return, the last two games Williams has started to create separation from his matchup to get clean looks on the offensive end. So much so that if you paused the clips of his shot attempts in the past two games before knowing the results you would count it as a high-quality look for the team’s No. 2 scoring option.
The only problem? The Santa Clara product clearly doesn’t have his touch yet. That is reflected in his efficiency at every spot on the floor. Working inside-out, Williams is shooting a career-low 47% at the cup, 42% from the mid-range and 20% on triples. These numbers are a farcry from the fourth year swingman’s entire career, being in 70% range at the rim, nearly 50% in the mid-range and 38% from deep.
As he continues to generate these shots and get his feel for the game back, they will start to fall at that former clip sooner rather than later. At that point, he will return to form as the All-NBA player that he has proven to be. Making this 21-1 club even better.
