LAS VEGAS — Jalen Wilson is just entering his second NBA season, but he's beginning to look like a veteran with twice as much experience.
The Nets wing has always been physical, but his improved jumping ability makes the second-round pick a viable option for Brooklyn.
“Exactly. He's very calm, he never gets excited or down,” Nets assistant coach Steve Hetzel, head coach of the summer league team, said after Wilson was the driving force behind the Nets' 92-85 win over the Knicks on Tuesday at the Thomas & Mack Center. “We've challenged him to be better defensively.”
“That was the best defense I've ever seen him play.”
Wilson's performance in Las Vegas bodes well for him earning time with a rebuilding team.
He scored 27 points and finished as a plus-19, both game highs.
The wing shot 8 of 16 overall and 5 of 10 on 3-pointers.
And in a game where the Nets were down 21 points, Wilson led his team to victory.
He never left the court in the fourth quarter of the Nets' 35-23 victory, pouring in 15 points to help his team win.
So far during his time in Las Vegas, the 23-year-old has looked like a better player than he was during his first visit.
“Maybe it's just that I get to do it again. As a rookie it's fresh and you don't really know what's going to happen, but being back and being a second year,” Wilson said. “It's just fun, seeing the stuff and experiencing the opportunity to win a championship. That's what motivates a guy, especially if it's your second time around.”
His physical prowess isn't impressive after four years at Kansas, even as a rookie last season, but questions about his 3-point shooting in college helped get him taken 51st overall by Brooklyn in last year's draft.
How he answers these questions will determine whether he can hit the big time in the second round.
“Shooting helps you in every way at every level of basketball because it gives your teammates more space on the court,” Hetzel said. “So the better you can shoot, or the more space you have to get into the pick-and-roll, the better Keon is going to be. [Johnson] The shot gives you all the space you need to attack one-on-one.”
Wilson shot just 31.6 percent from three-point range in college and 32.4 percent as a rookie.
But through three games in Las Vegas, he's performing much better, averaging 21.3 points and making 14 of 29 3-pointers.
“It's the time I spent in Brooklyn. Everybody here is on time and they're trying to get better every day. No matter how early or late they are in the gym, I can call anybody,” Wilson said. “I'm hitting the same shots every day in practice that I'm going to hit in a game. So I just credit it to the time I spent in Brooklyn this summer and the help the coaches gave me.”
This is a new staff member.
And a Nets team undergoing a complete rebuild after trading Mikal Bridges will have new faces.
That could mean the emergence of younger players and potentially increased playing time for Wilson.
“I'm excited about any opportunity. I think it's a blessing that we all have the opportunity to play and people believe in us,” Wilson said. “It's great to have an organization that trusts all of us to go out there and play and just build on it. So I think this is a great opportunity.”
“[My goal] It's just about competing, playing hard, learning as much as I can, and hopefully slowing down more and more with each game. I feel like the first year goes really fast for a rookie because we're like, 'I'm already in the NBA.' We're not. So I'm hoping that in my second year I can slow down and really learn the game.”
