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OKLAHOMA CITY — From leading their high school to a state title to helping the Oklahoma City Thunder win its first championship in franchise history, Isaiah Joe and Jaylin Williams have enjoyed an incredible journey as teammates. During the offseason, their hometown of Fort Smith, Arkansas, hosted a parade celebrating Joe and Williams' title . The Thunder champions brought the Larry O'Brien trophy. However, it's time to defend it now.
In preparation for the upcoming season, Joe discussed what he's seen in Williams' shooting — a facet of his game Jaylin's been working on since they were teenagers — and it's starting to pay off.
"He's always worked it. Even in high school, he shot threes here and there. But one thing he never stopped doing was working on it, and it shows," Joe said. "Now he shoots with a lot of confidence, whether he's making or missing, he shoots the next one like it's going in. And at his position and what he does for the team, I think, it really helps, especially the way he creates action.
"He can roll or he can choose to pop. It's something that he's just continued to work on, and it's starting to show out there," Joe concluded.
In the Thunder's preseason opener against the Charlotte Hornets, Williams demonstrated his efficient shooting by connecting on 5-of-8 from three en route to 17 points on 6-of-9 attempts. He also finished with three assists and two rebounds in 22 minutes, as Jaylin has shown significant growth ahead of his fourth season in Oklahoma City.
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For the first time, Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault fielded a lineup featuring centers Jaylin Williams and Isaiah Hartenstein in Thursday's preseason win over the Hornets. In their third preseason game, it was also the first time Daigneault played most of his player rotation , including MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Hartenstein.
With Chet Holmgren out (sore shoulder), Daigneault played Williams and Hartenstein, a combination he never used last year, and was curious to see the benefits of playing both centers together.
"We hadn't done it before, and J-Will's shot it so well that he really is a problem offensively. Defensively, it could pose some problems if we overextended it," Daigneault said. "But there [are] probably some situations where it can be relevant, and it's something we've never looked at. So, it was an opportunity to do that tonight, and we wanted to take a quick look at it."
Williams entered Thursday's 135-114 win against the Hornets 9-for-22 (40.9%) from deep.
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