Drafting Jalen Williams Paying Off for Thunder

Jalen Williams has been on of the best rookies early in the season, and one of the best drafted at the end of the lottery.

Oklahoma City had options at the No. 12 pick in the 2022 NBA Draft.

Highly touted prospects lined the boards waiting to hear their names called. Now as NBA teams sit around 20 games played, the Thunder’s decisions seems to have been the right one.

Sam Presti and the Thunder front office selected Santa Clara product Jalen Williams at the No. 12 selection. Since the season began he’s become a key cog in OKC, won the November rookie of the month honors and dropped a career-high 27 points while filling in for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

Williams has proved vital to the OKC success. While some players drafted after him have had success others have struggled to find a role with their new teams.

Tari Eason and AJ Griffin have both been helpful parts of their teams success. Eason, the No. 17 pick by the Rockets, is averaging 8.1 points per game, 5.2 rebounds and shooting 40.3%. Griffin, the No. 16 pick to Atlanta, is averaging 8.8 points, 1.9 rebounds and shooting 47% from the field.

Williams for example is shooting 52.4% while scoring 10.7 points and grabbing 3.2 rebounds per game. He also adds 2.6 assists per game to the table.

On the flip side other players haven’t been as lucky with their production early in the season.

Ochai Agbaji and Mark Williams have both struggled to find consistent minutes for their respective teams. Agbaji and Mark Williams were drafted with the two picks after Jalen Williams.

Jalen Williams has even found more success than a couple players drafted above him including Thunder teammate Ousmane Dieng.

Williams has been one of the highlights of the lottery and one of the top rookies overall in the early part of the season.

The Thunder had options at No. 12 and seem to have made the correct one. 

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