Thunder End of the Season Report Card: Jaylin Williams

When Arkansas’ Jaylin Williams was selected by Oklahoma City with the 34th pick in last year’s draft, the big man was largely an afterthought, especially because the Thunder had already used up three lottery picks to snag all of Chet Holmgren, Ousmane Dieng, and the other Jalen Williams.

And despite entering the league as an undersized center with less than ideal athleticism and an unpolished offensive game, Williams’ defensive playmaking, passing, and shooting stood out in the Thunder’s second half of the season to help provide some semblance of stability to an under-manned frontcourt.

Williams finished his rookie campaign averaging only 5.9 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 1.6 assists in just 18.7 minutes across his 49 games. But those numbers fail to capture the true impact he had this season.

Grade: C

Glimpses and flashes. That’s all that Williams could show early on in the season in the spot minutes he received as he tried to argue his way into the rotation through his first 11 games. A three-ball here, a beautiful pass there. Or a well-set screen that would free up one of the Thunder’s ball-handlers to get down hill.

And then opportunity came a knockin’ as injuries to Jeremiah Robinson-Earl and Aleksej Pokusevski left the Thunder short-handed up front. Head coach Mark Daigneault then tried to adjust by giving Mike Muscala more minutes or by going small with Kenrich Williams at the five. But Muscala would be traded away at the deadline and Kenrich would suffer a season-ending wrist injury.

Afterwards, the Thunder relied upon their second-round pick to open up games and bring some consistency to the five spot in the latter half of the season even with the eventual returns of Robinson-Earl and Pokusevski. Williams answered the call to the best of his ability, too, as he knocked down crucial shots, sacrificed his body to draw charges, and most importantly, kept the ball moving.

Offensively

Only a few big men in the NBA have both the capability to knock down 3-pointers and thread the needle via passing, Nikola Jokic being the most famous example. While Williams is no Jokic, his selflessness and skill as a passer combined with his confidence as a shooter earns him a “C+” as he helped the Thunder’s offense keep churning.

Surprisingly, Williams’ offensive game was largely based on taking outside shots, evidenced by his near 50% 3-point attempt rate. Although it wasn’t something he was known for in college, the big man stretched the floor for the Thunder, converting 40.7% of his 113 3-point attempts.

In conjunction with the shooting, Williams’ phenomenal screens, creative passes, and occasional drives to the basket were able to somewhat compensate for the lack of rim running and post play that the Thunder were so desperately missing.

Defensively

Listed at 6-foot-9 and 240 pounds, Williams is definitely smaller than your average NBA center. But that didn’t stop him from contributing defensively as he led the entire league with 43 charges drawn as a rookie, a testament to his physicality, excellent positioning, and desire to defend.

Still, defenses targeted Williams over and over, taking advantage of his lack of mobility and size and purposefully attacked the rim or his feet when he was on the floor. In fact, post All-Star break, Williams defended 11.4 shots per game and allowed opponents to shoot 9.9% better relative to their average field goal percentage.

Overall, Williams’ inexperience and lack of tools trumped his desire to defend, earning him a solid “C-” grade.

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