WOW! Pick #12! Well done!
Will play with Holmgren in OKC!
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Very cool. Happy for him.
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#12 is higher than I would have thought he would have gone so good for him. He mustn have made a great impression in the combines. His family background also. Plus and he gave a great interview. Obviously the right choice to go -pro. Nice article in todays Mercury News on him and it was interesting that he said that Coach Sendek said it was his time to move on. Nice the coach was thinking of the well being of the player.
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Congrats to Jalen!
OKC is not a bad place to land, good fan support and they’ve been in rebuild mode and are very young so Jalen won’t be buried behind many entrenched vets. Chet Holmgren will get most of the immediate media attention so less pressure on Jalen as he’s 1 of 3 1st round picks for them.
On quick scan looks like there’s at least 4 guys on their roster who are younger than Jalen and another 5 to 7 who are around his age (21-22ish).
Guys in front or him or who’s competing with for PT: Luguentz Dort (23yrs old, 3rd year player from ASU), Josh Giddey (19yrs old, 2021 1st round pick, 6-8 playmaker, led them in assists), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (23yrs old, also good playmaker).
Plus a bunch of other solid, young players.
And head coach, Mark Daigneault is apparently the youngest coach in the NBA, spent time under Donovan at both Florida and OKC.
Hoping Jalen can at least be a solid 2nd unit sub consistently playing 18-20mins a game in his 1st season…then work his way up from there. Will be fun to follow him.
Tidbit - Parker Braun’s brother, Christian, was drafted by the Nuggets at #21.
OKC’s first Summer League games is on ESPN tonight at 6PST against the Jazz.
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Terrific glimpse of these guys being family together… and I think friends for life. Thanks.
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Good 1st game for Jalen tonight…17pts on 8-11 shooting and 5 rebounds in 25minutes.
Chet Holmgren dominated…23pts, 7 rebs, 4 asts, and 6blocks.
Kind of cool 2 WCC guys were their top 2 scorers.
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Someone cut a clip of all of Jalen’s points from from last night. He did a great job showing off his versatility. Looked comfortable on the wing when playing with Chet/Giddey and had no problems being the primary ball handler for the second unit.
Just wanted to give a quick shout to Jalen Williams, who pulled all kinds of finishes outta the bag tonight pic.twitter.com/9uXgzhBxnf
— Nekias (Nuh-KY-us) Duncan (@NekiasNBA) July 6, 2022
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Another good game for Jalen.
Jalen Williams dropped 16 points (5-9 FG, 3-3 from 3), 3 rebounds and 2 assists in 22 minutes of play in the Thunder’s 87-71 over the Grizzlies 🔥 #RepAZ @JdubPSCEO pic.twitter.com/X8Wan5TgUD
— EVision (@EVision_AZ) July 7, 2022
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A great game against Houston. .from the Oklahoman
J-Dunk
Jalen Williams attacks the rim with force.
Hammer dunks are quickly becoming part of his game.
That wasn’t exactly how Williams was billed in the pre-draft process. Everyone talked about his feel and finesse, which he’s no doubt showcased so far in Summer League. But his violence in attacking the rack? That’s been eye-opening.
Williams was the Thunder’s best all-around player Saturday. He had 15 points on 7-of-12 shooting, and he defended the No. 3 pick in the draft.
“I thought Jalen did a great job on (Smith), being physical, making him feel him and contesting his shots,” Woods said.
Jalen Williams said the key to guarding Smith was “picking him up further from the rim.”
“Just try to make it tough for him to make catches,” Williams said.
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Kids going to have a great career. I’m excited for him.
He embraced being a Bronco and I think he knows how unique is opportunity is.
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Not sure if anyone else already reported this on this site, but JW’s contract with the Thunder is 4 yr $20,256,917 – well done, young man! Very happy for him. From what I understand, years 3 and 4 are team options.
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