Most people will remember it as the game in which the Nets rested a player and were fined $100,000.
For Jalen Wilson, that loss to the Bucks on Dec. 27 helped lay the foundation.
At times, he was tasked with guarding Giannis Antetokounmpo, which is “something I’ve always wanted to do,” Wilson said that day.
He scored 21 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and made all 11 of his free throws in 30 minutes. It was a fleeting opportunity for a second-round draft pick last June, but Wilson turned it into a chance to get more.
He’s an experienced rookie who stayed there for four years while winning a national title at Kansas.
In an era of one-and-done and transfers, that’s the exception. But the extra season with the Jayhawks helped Wilson unlock the final ingredients he needed to thrive in, and perhaps stay in, the NBA: 3-point shooting and defense.
Wilson is averaging 5.5 points and 2.6 rebounds in 16 NBA games this season, but those numbers ballooned to 19.3 points and 7.6 rebounds in 11 games with Long Island in the G League.
First-round pick Noah Clowney logged just seven games and had no tangible impact.
Darik Whitehead, who was selected to take Clowney’s next spot, played in only two games and underwent season-ending shin surgery in January.
So even if the Nets’ season spirals out of control and their fading hopes of qualifying for the play-in tournament disappear, starting center Nick Claxton, who is a year older than rising star Cam Thomas, Wilson, who is just a year younger, could benefit from a shift to the next target. development.
“He’s handled every responsibility in every situation,” Grant Long, Wilson’s coach at John H. Geyer High School in Texas, told the Post. “So I think that has had a big impact on the NBA team and role he’s on. He’s ready for it and he’s got the experience.”
For now, it’s all about deciphering the complex factors of survival in the NBA.
Wilson missed playing time at the trade deadline, when the Nets sent Royce O’Neal to the Suns. He has played at least the final six minutes of the fourth quarter in each of the Nets’ last four games.
He has been trying to “find that window” offensively alongside established contributors.
As the Nets mounted a comeback on Tuesday, Wilson hit a 3-pointer and fed Mikal Bridges on the next possession for three more points, keeping the lead at six points.
“It always feels good when your coach has faith in you,” Wilson said after the game. “That’s what everyone is working for, to go out there and compete in the moments that matter most.”
Wilson emerged as that type of player over his final two seasons with the Jayhawks, especially when he returned in his fourth season and parlayed his second-round draft performance into a final encore.
All Wilson needed was for an NBA team to notice.
When Wilson enrolled at the University of Kansas, athletic performance director Ramsey Nijem, who previously worked with the Sacramento Kings, helped him add lateral quickness to compensate for his lack of speed.
Then, when teams isolated his opponents defensively, Wilson adjusted.
He also perfected his ball screen defense.
But the final piece was the 3-point shot.
From 2022 to 2023, attempts from beyond the arc nearly doubled from 114 to 208.
Conversion rate also increased from 26.3 to 33.7.
The Jayhawks held various shooting drills to help Wilson try as many shots as possible. Celtic were among them. With Celtic, Wilson had to make 10 shots in two minutes and had to make three-pointers in quick succession before moving on to another. .
Eventually, he grew to around 13 years old, and NBA scouts noticed his progress.
“That’s when I said, ‘God, this kid might really have a chance,'” Kansas assistant coach Curtis Townsend said. “Then when he started playing and made first team All-American, everyone was talking about him. That’s when we knew he had a real chance.”
Playing 16 games in the NBA doesn’t guarantee longevity. This is a start, but a trade could close Wilson’s window as the Nets begin to reshape their roster.
Still, he could be a “3-and-D guy,” Long said.
Probably a double-double player – just like the Bucks’ first expansion action.
And if the Nets continue to find ways to keep young players part of their core, that could be Wilson’s personal blueprint.
“He knows that with his offensive skills plus his defense and rebounding, he can be a big part of any team he’s on,” Long said.
