21-year-old Jalen Williams has become quite the trending topic since the NBA draft combine last month, where he tested, measured, and played well in scrimmages, thus vastly increasing his draft stock. Williams was productive throughout his three-year tour at Santa Clara, where he averaged 18 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 4.2 assists — while shooting 51.3% and knocking down threes at a clip of 40%, and shooting just over 80% FT. Williams is a “late bloomer” prospect that clearly still has room to grow. Imagine how much better he can be once his body becomes familiar with NBA strength ns conditioning programs alone. He measured at roughly 6’6 in shoes with a massive 7’2 inch wingspan, which gives him a +8 wingspan and an even more intriguing piece of one’s core. His skill level not only heightens his ceiling but also raises his floor.
What to don't like about this guy? Honestly, scouting him, I can actually understand how some crazy draft reaches happens and why teams have so different draft boards from one another. Sometimes you just fell in love with a player. And as a disclaimer, Jalen Williams is that guy for me. Probably a player that I'd rank in the top 10, with an argument to be better than Mathurin than to a pick in the 16-25 range where you usually see him.
The definition of a modern wing, with upside to doing pretty much everything. On offense, he carried the load for his team while being efficient and showing a great feel for passing and playing the PnR. He's very good on bounce passes finding angles to feed the roll man. Also show some ability to be patient and keep the dribble alive, letting the other players find an opening off the ball so he can deliver with decent accuracy off both hands. To couple with that, has great vision on open court and is the playmaker in transition. Need to work on cutting turnovers, hopefully, will show a better AST/TO ratio with NBA spacing and quality shooters around him.
Has the ability to hit a 3-pt out of a pick with great rhythm, he constantly tries to punish teams going under but is inconsistent on converting it. Some flashes on step-backs and jab-steps 3s. Still need to work on the mid-range, but at times can control his penetration to stop and take a freebie. The thing I like more is his quick release on the catch and shoot which can make him at worst a very serviceable 3 and D wing in the league.
He has excellent footwork and the ability to explode off of two feet for stronger finishes around the basket. The floater is a big part of his game, a little more aggressiveness to finish through contact wouldn't hurt (mainly with his left) and with his elite measurements, he should be able to unlock the ability to draw fouls and go to the line against NBA bigs. Still, he has patience and footwork to find an opening after the dribble so that he can create something with his long arms.
Speaking of long arms, he's a pest on defense, locking down on-ball, on passing lanes and handoffs. Also decent shot blocker on guys taking pull-ups off the drive (guards have a hard time shooting over this man). He should be able to be better at helping on drives with better coaching, but it's able to see that he can close space fast and intimidate a bit the ball handler helping from corners.
Always hard to judge switchability from players in college, still can fit very well in the modern NBA switching onto smaller guards or forwards at times. He lacks consistency on that end and is caught off balance and sometimes people just blow by him. What he'll need more work on is his ability to fight screens, doesn't seem very good at making adjustments on the fly to go around them, and sometimes even bumps with his own teammates when defending drives.
Main questions going into the draft:
Is 1 good year of shooting enough sample size to project a long career as a catch and shoot player?
Does he have enough quickness back-paddling to keep up with NBA guards on defense?
Can he improve his AST/TO ratio so he can become a secondary playmaker?
Best Fits:
Hornets (Mitch should pick this guy at 15 idc)
Cavs (if they buy on his upside as a two-way guard, perfect next to Garland and Okoro)
Sixers (if he's there at 23, would be dumb to not pick him)
Nuggets (probably a better version of Barton from day 1)
Houston (they can use some elite length and test Green running the point)
Pacers (if they trade for his range, would be a perfect wing to develop next to Hali)