Can Jalen Williams become the co-star OKC needs? Or should the Thunder explore a trade?

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(Amber Matsumoto/Yahoo Sports Illustration)

The Oklahoma City Thunder have emerged as the betting favorites in the Western Conference, but their NBA Cup loss to the Milwaukee Bucks exposed critical flaws.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has firmly established himself as an MVP candidate, but whether he has a true co-star remains unclear. Jalen Williams has shown brilliant flashes but fell short in critical moments last season, averaging 17 points on only 50.8% true shooting in Oklahoma City’s second-round loss to the Dallas Mavericks.

Williams came back this season a higher-volume 3-point shooter, but he struggled in the NBA Cup elimination games:

18 points on 21 shots vs. Dallas

20 points on 20 shots vs. Houston

18 points on 20 shots vs. Milwaukee

In total, that’s 18.7 points per game on 44% true shooting. Williams was struggling to get all the way to the basket against the likes of AJ Green and Gary Trent in the championship game, and was largely ineffective when any help shaded over. It’s just one game, but it was a repeat of his problems against the Mavericks with the inability to consistently create space for quality looks.

Gilgeous-Alexander wasn’t at his best either, scoring 21 points on 24 shots. Andre Jackson shut him down on multiple occasions. But we’ve seen SGA dominate on the biggest stage, something Williams has yet to do. And that’s completely fair: SGA is already 26, while Williams is only 23 years old in just his third season. The fact Williams is already this good — 21/6/5 with versatile defense — gives him obvious All-Star potential.

But can Williams grow into a more consistent star level talent by this spring? Perhaps. Chet Holmgren should be back at some point and would provide more perimeter creation as well, so maybe the Thunder will have enough by committee to ride the hotter hand. But when defenses tighten, this team’s lack of consistent secondary shot creation becomes apparent. It begs the question:

Is this Thunder group built to win a title or are they still just a work in progress?

Some Thunder fans will argue that the team just had a horrid shooting night against the Bucks. Fair….

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/can-jalen-williams-become-the-co-star-okc-needs-or-should-the-thunder-explore-a-trade-145115392.html

Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2024-12-19 14:51:00

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