Jalen Williams is the PERFECT third star for the OKC Thunder

Jalen Williams is the PERFECT third star for the OKC Thunder

The Oklahoma City Thunder are the NBA’s newest sweethearts right now they’re just two games back from the number one seed in the west and they’re the third youngest team in the league that is rare SGA is making a legit MVP case at just 25 in Chad hren is having one of the

Largest winning impacts we’ve seen from a rookie this Century together they look on Pace to be the League’s Premier Duo a few years down the line each with their own dazzling style SGA with his unique slithery movement and ballet body control chat with his generational defensive ability and extraordinary

Offensive skill for a seven-footer but there’s a third undeniable star talent in OKC who may not have such a distinctive style or national name recognition but who does everything you want from a third star and that’s jayen Williams jdub is a big time overachiever he was just a three- star recruit in

High school and he spent his first two collegiate Seasons at Santa Clara without generating any buzz on NBA draft boards but after a Dy damic Junior campaign OKC picked him 12th only for him to then take another leap and make a late push to Rookie of the Year runner

Up last season thanks to his Elite efficiency and versatile impact the man has just been trending up and up these last couple years and this season has been no different jdub does a lot really well but the first thing that stands out about him is that he’s quite a pain to

Try and stay in front of not unlike his backt made SGA JB is phenomenal at shifting gears and he’s an expert at building rhythm as a dribbler lulling Defenders and then exploding by them here he casually goes between the legs five times but then when he decides to

Go that right to left cross is quick and he’s by you he gives Moses Moody a similar treatment here luls him then explodes with that cross and here you see how his 72 wingspan helps him as a finisher as well shielding this ball from the rim protector and as that shows

You Jaylen doesn’t need huge Windows of Separation part of what makes him so lethal is his ability to find angles as a driver and a finisher he gets low on his drives and just squeezes by you excellent at navigating traffic watch as he slithers through a crowded paint here

Changing Pace then splitting two Defenders expertly and he frequently does a nice job of varying his stride length and using gathers to slide by Defenders and pack paints but he’s not just Shifty jaylen’s willing to be physical as a driver too a healthy little push off here sends mpj flying he

Changes Direction seamlessly and watch out yoke he will bang out on you brother he also is one of the smoothest behind the back moves in the league yet another weapon for him catching Defenders off guard to get a step on a drive or leading into a step back if his Drive

Gets cut off occasionally he can get overly audacious handling in traffic and lose the ball but his handle is generally both creative and quite tight in his turnover rate is quite low so he’s tough to keep away from the rim and when he gets there he’s been very

Efficient as a finisher he’s got that Elite length a 39in vertical impressive body control a knack for finding angles and a variety of finishes scoop layups Runners and that Above the Rim pop in fact jdub’s averaging the ninth most points per game inside of 5et of any

Player 6’6 are shorter and only SGA has been more efficient on those shots out of that group look at how his Hang Time and Agility in the air allows him to finish here with four Dudes converging on him he takes off from far out takes the contact in midair and then finds the

Angle around them that’s impressive he can at times Force finishes in overcrowded situations but not enough to knock that strong of efficiency at The Rim so he’s already one of the League’s best driving wings but Defenders I fear it gets worse for you because Jaylen

Knows how to use the threat he poses as a driver to get himself good shots elsewhere and just as quickly as he can go 0 to 60 he can slam on the brakes here’s that same gear change he starts by lulling the defender ah look at me

Casually walking up to use this screen psych so now torian Prince is moving so hard to defend the drive that Jaylen just uses his momentum against him and steps back for a wide open look and Jaylen is money on these shots he’s been nearly 47% for mid-range this season a

Disgusting 60% on two-point step backs and even has a Nifty one-legged fall away from this range SGA is the best short mid-range guard in the league today and JB has some similar tricks in his bag and how he uses physicality to create space for short jumpers watch how

He goes right into Ty initiating contact to knock him off balance then steps back for another gimme and he’s consistently physical in situations like this jdub doesn’t often shoot pull-up threes taking just under one per game but he’s made an absurd 56% when he does let them

Fly and knocked down nine of 14 step back threes this season that all-around scoring profile has made Jaylen an extremely efficient bucket in one of just two players under 25 years old averaging 18 points per game on 62% true shooting this season along with Tyrese halber so he’s quite athletic he’s

Shifty he’s a skilled shot maker he’s efficient and the the kicker is this guy can really playmake here he uses this screen in a hang dribble to get just enough of a step on an elite perimeter defender in Jaden McDaniels then Rises up like he’s going to shoot a short

Jumper so he keeps goar engaged until the last second then turns his body and fires this over to Chad that’s a nice deception he’s got some craftiness as a passer too watch him reach around the defender to whip this one-handed live dribble Lefty bullet to chat that’s

Pretty nasty one of my favorite traits of jdubs is that he’s a beautiful law passer he’s generally got great timing and placement there and he and Chad already have awesome chemistry in their Twan game job’s not an elite playmaker he can miss opportunities here he’s a second late and a bit off Target

Floating this past to chat which allows LeBron to come over and help and he’s not routinely making Next Level skip passes but he’s a pretty damn good passer in that dual threat makes JB an extremely efficient on ball Creator including passes he’s an 80th per percentile pick and roll Creator and an

82nd percentile isolation Creator dangerous both as a scorer and playmaker but what makes him so ideal as a complimentary star next to a true offensive number one like Shay is his ability to impact the game away from the ball as well jdub is a willing and effective catch and shooter knocking

Down 39% of those looks from deep and he’s an effective closeout attacker given his athleticism he has excellent feel as a cutter for a wing and has good feel as a connector with his passing he tends to notice when Defenders are out of position and a teammate has an

Advantage and he’s decisive in those situations he’s also really good in transition running the floor pushing as a ball handler shooting as a trailer the dude is just versatile to his core and it makes him a dream to have on your team and jadb is quite the versatile

Defender as well he’s an excellent lateral mover who takes good angles on drives navigates screens well and plays with awesome effort constantly light on his feet and in a good defensive stance he’s a pesky but composed on ball defense Defender he’ll use his 72 wingspan to poke at the ball and apply

Pressure with his body but he always stays square and moves his feet efficiently this possession shows all of that Jamal gets a little loose with the handle so Jaylen applies pressure but he doesn’t ever give up his position and then as Murray goes to his signature turnaround here Jaylen blocks it that’s

Not normal average NBA guards can’t do that that length and vertical pop has made jayen a tough man to score on as a driver whether as a one-on-one defender or a helper as he’s held opposing players 11% below their typical field goal percentage inside of 6 feet if

Jaylen has a defensive weakness it would be his slight frame at 6’5 195 lb that will occasionally prompt big bruising forwards to attack him on switches but even in those situations Williams has ranked as an 89th percentile post Defender this year although I do think Chad holr and OKC’s help defense as a

Whole deserves some credit there but he’s long he’s competitive and is overall quite switchable and that’s kind of his whole thing Jaylen doesn’t doesn’t have a weakness at all maybe he doesn’t have that tier one Elite trait but he’s damn good at just about everything and I mean that genuinely he

Pressures the rim creates for others is a lethal mid-range shooter a 43% three-point shooter strong off ball good in transition damn good defending the perimeter and good for his position on the interior and when you do all those things really well you’re a star and even more than that you’re the perfect

Complimentary star which can be such a hard thing to find and that’s what Jaylen is destined to be maybe SGA and Chad are the ones contending for MVPs and First Team all League nods but Jaylen will be a consistent Allstar and potentially even an all NBA kind of guy

He is so so good and I don’t see any reason he wouldn’t keep getting better and when you have three dudes of that caliber titles are waiting for you if you don’t mess it up so fellas don’t mess it Up Oh

Jalen Williams may not be as shiny as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander or Chet Holmgren, but make no mistake about it: the Oklahoma City Thunder have a third star, and he’s good at just about everything on the basketball court. And with that sort of dynamic trio, the Thunder are on a title or bust trajectory.

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