Jalen Williams warned against becoming too dependent on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

Now in his third season with the club, Jalen Williams has officially established himself as the undeniable current and future cornerstone of this promising OKC Thunder foundation.

From his elite inside-out offensive performance to the amazing positional versatility he has displayed amid the injury-related adversity Oklahoma City faced during the 2024-25 season, the 23-year-old has delivered , to stand out from many of the U25 talents scattered across the league.

In February, we could realistically even see him selected to play in his first NBA All-Star Game due to his impressive play.

However, despite the well-deserved praise and admiration he has received from fans, pundits and players across the association, there are still areas of Jalen Williams’ game that could use improvement.

As the folks at Bleacher Report recently pointed out, arguably the most notable aspect of his arsenal that could benefit from some improvement is his ability to lead the offense as a central weapon or, more specifically, without the likes of Shai Gilgeous – Alexander running alongside him.

B/R urges Thunder winger Jalen Williams to prove himself as the leading scorer

Although author Grant Hughes admitted that Williams is actually fifth in the league in estimated plus/minus rankings and is believed to be “on track to earn his first All-NBA and All-Defensive Team,” he still believes there are some serious limitations to his league-wide star status.

One of the main reasons for this, in his eyes, is his lack of experience as a reliable “run the show” type of player.

Throughout his career, the forward has had the luxury of going against defenses that were heavily focused on slowing down Gilgeous-Alexander, which for him personally resulted in a cleaner look and less crowded lanes. Because of this, it would make sense that he isn’t as used to acting as a self-sufficient creator when the guard isn’t on the ground.

In this case, however, mere statistics cannot be overruled by reasoning.

As Hughes made clear in his analysis, the advanced metrics certainly seem to support that claim, with the veteran B/R writer highlighting that “OKC scores 115.3 points per 100 possessions with Williams on the field, but only 104.7 if he plays without Shai.” Gilgeous-Alexander.

Additionally, his results would show that Williams “ranks in the 38th percentile in scoring efficiency as a pick-and-roll ballhandler and in the 43rd percentile in isolation plays.”

As the article puts it, resolving these particular discrepancies “could be the difference between winning a championship or not.”

While such a statement may seem a bit dramatic (especially since it involves a scorer of 21.7 points per game and a shooting percentage of 50.0 percent), it seems quite accurate when looking at previous NBA Finals champions be.

In the last five seasons alone, only once has a league champion posted a double-digit points differential per 100 possessions, and it was with the second-best scoring option on the court without its first (the 2022-23 Denver Nuggets).

The rest saw negligible differences, with some, like the reigning champions Boston Celtics, even seeing a positive increase in this metric.

Of course, one could argue that these stats are a bit blown out of proportion considering they are based on such a small sample size this year (both Williams and Gilgeous-Alexander played 547 of their 802.4 and 861.0 minutes together, respectively) , but nonetheless, history suggests that such a stark contrast could, in theory, hinder the Thunder’s title ambitions if left unaddressed.

At this point in the season, it’s abundantly clear that the Thunder have managed to thrive despite this questionable setback in the game – not only do they have the third-best record in the entire league, but they’re also just one win away from the game Coronation removes Emirates NBA Cup champions.

However, in the next few months leading up to the playoffs, it might be prudent to work on making J-Dub a robust and impactful option while SGA takes a breather on the sidelines.

Bleacher Report’s statistical research uncovered an interesting fact about OKC’s game that has a historically significant connection to title runs.

At the very least, it’s worth watching in the future to see how Jalen Williams performs on offense when Shai Gilgeous-Alexander isn’t in the game.