Jalen Williams (SG, OKC) - Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wire Pickups for Week 14

BALLER MOVE: Add in 14+ Team Leagues

ROSTERED IN: 23% of leagues

ANALYSIS: A few weeks before the start of the season, before Chet Holmgren got injured and ruled out for his rookie year, Jalen Williams didn't feature on anybody's radar. That changed the minute Chet went down, and it became an absolute reality just one month into the season with Williams taking on a starting-forward role and never ever relinquishing it after December 12.

Williams started a game for the first time on November 1, then on November 7, 14, and 18. That was followed by back-to-back starts at the end of November and the start of December. Since December 12, though, Williams has started all 17 games he's played and he's truly improved his level of late, starting after Christmas.

In his last 10 games through Saturday, Williams has averaged 31 FPPG to go with 1.04 FP/min. Considering the league-average player is averaging some 0.90 such fantasy points, Williams is way above that mediocre level of play.

Williams has been good to hit double-digit points in 26 of his last 32 games. He's averaged 13 PPG in that span, and he's raised the bar to nearly 15 PPG in January. Other than a four-point stinker back on January 4 (2-for-8 from the field), Williams has scored 10+ points in all of his games played this month, including two 20+ performances (21 and 22) and another 18-point outing on January 6.

Williams doesn't quite stretch the floor, but when he is left alone, he can hit the odd three-point bucket, so defenses are forced to stay honest with him. His shooting percentages are gaudy, though, as he operates inside more often than not.

Also: Williams provides boards (almost 5+ RPG in the last month of play) and he's adept at stealing (1.5+ SPG in the last month) and swatting rocks (1.0 BPG in the past five games).

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