Jalen Wilson is having a moment.
One year after being named to the NBA 2K24 All-Summer League Second Team, the 23-year-old forward has continued to play impressively for the Nets this summer in Las Vegas.
Wilson, entering his second season in the league, was once again at his best in Brooklyn’s 92-85 defeat of the Knicks Tuesday afternoon at Thomas & Mack Center. He finished with a game-high 27 points on 8-of-16 shooting (5-of-10 from 3-point range) in just under 30 minutes of action.
“I think it’s fresh as a rookie, like you don’t know really what to expect,” Wilson told reporters after the game. “But now this is my second year coming back. It’s just fun, you get to see things, you get to experience having a chance to win it. I think that’s the thing that drives a guy, especially when it’s our second time doing it.”
Fifteen of Wilson’s points came in the fourth quarter, where he went 3-of-4 from deep to help the Nets fully erase an early 21-point deficit to storm back for the win in regulation. Wilson also helped set the tone defensively down the stretch as Brooklyn limited the Knicks to just 39.4% shooting over the final two quarters of play.
Steve Hetzel, the Nets’ summer league head coach who will serve as Jordi Fernandez’s top assistant next season, has been pleased with Wilson’s development and views him as one of the leaders of this year’s summer league team.
“Very much so,” Hetzel said. “He’s extremely poised. Never gets too high or too low. We’ve challenged him to be better defensively. This was the best defense I’ve ever seen him play.”
Wilson is averaging 21.3 points per game entering Wednesday’s matchups in Las Vegas, which ranks second among all summer league players who have appeared in at least three games. The forward is shooting 42.6% from the field and a blistering 48.3% from deep and credits his improved outside shooting to the work he has put in with his teammates this offseason.
Wilson shot 42.5% from the field and 32.4% from deep across 43 games as a rookie.
“I can call anyone no matter how early or late it is to get in the gym,” Wilson said. “The same shots we shoot in the game, we’re shooting in practice every single day. So, I just attribute it to all the time we’ve been putting in this summer in Brooklyn and all the help the coaches have been giving us on how to go out and execute.”
Wilson’s ability to rebound, defend and stretch the floor will earn him consistent minutes in Brooklyn next season. He has no expectations for his role entering Year 2 and simply wants to embrace whatever opportunities he receives.
“Just compete, play hard, learn as much as I can,” Wilson said. “And game-by-game hopefully it just keeps slowing down and slowing down. I feel like that first year is just so fast for a rookie because since we’re just like, ‘We’re in the NBA now.’ It’s different. So hopefully the second year is just slowed down and I get to really learn the game.”
