In this continuing series, Thunder Wire assigns three goals to each of the 21 players, per Spotrac, that make up the Oklahoma City Thunder roster.
The Thunder’s season kicks off on Oct. 25 against the Chicago Bulls. After a surprising 40-42 campaign that ended a win shy of the playoffs, OKC enters this year with playoff aspirations.
Buy Thunder TicketsLet’s assign three goals for Jaylin Williams, who arguably had the most adventurous rookie arc last year. After barely getting playing time in the first half of the season and spending a ton of time in the G League, he finished his season being a vital piece for a playoff contender as the starting center.
Lead the league in charges again
Williams is notorious for laying his body on the line in exchange for drawn charges. He led college in that category during his time in Arkansas and he led the league last season in his rookie season.
Despite playing only 914 total minutes, Williams drew 43 charges called. Second-place Kevin Love had 33 drawn charges in 1,239 minutes of playing time.
Even if his role gets reduced due to the return of Chet Holmgren, I expect Williams to lead the league in drawn charges once again. It’s evident he doesn’t need a ton of playing time to rack up the offensive foul.
Keep on shooting 3s
Last season, Williams had the most surprising season from 3 on the Thunder. He shot 40.7% from downtown on 2.3 attempts. An unbelievable number by someone who wasn’t really profiled as an outside shooter.
This upcoming season should provide a clearer picture as to whether or not that number is legit or was an anomaly. The answer is likely in the middle — while Williams isn’t going to be a 40%-plus 3-point shooter, he won’t be a negative on that side of the court either.
If he can put up similar numbers to what he did last season, then that’s a huge bonus for his long-term projection as a rotation player.
Solidify a rotation spot
For the second half of the season, Williams served as OKC’s starting center due to several frontcourt injuries. To his credit, he did an admiral job filling in as a small-ball five for a Play-In team. But he likely won’t get afforded that luxury this year barring health.
That doesn’t mean Williams can’t get consistent playing time though. It’ll be a battle with some of OKC’s newest additions, but he’ll have a good shot to establish himself as a legit rotation piece and earn the backup center minutes.
If he does do that, then the Thunder drafting a rotation player with the No. 34 pick is a huge win.
