Nets' Wilson Looking To Defy NBA’s Age-Old Age Bias
In many NBA circles, age can be more than a number. When players are initially scouted, it can be a stigma. The prevailing wisdom often leads organizations to bypass quality basketball players of a certain age in favor of younger projects who, almost by default, are deemed to have more “upside.”
That’s probably how forward Jalen Wilson fell into the Nets’ lap at the 2023 NBA Draft. Brooklyn was able to select the reigning Big 12 Player of the Year and Julius Erving Award winner at No. 51 overall mostly because he was already 23 on Draft Day. Both of the Nets’ first-round picks—Noah Clowney and Dariq Whitehead—were 19.
I still scratch my head over how Wilson fell to Brooklyn—according to NetsDaily, the team’s Draft Room was ecstatic over the development at the time—and his superb performance at the 2023 NBA Summer League made me believe the Nets found another steal.
Wilson proceeded to endure an up-and-down season, which is common for rookies at any age. His three-point shooting, which was erratic in college at Kansas (a fairer knock on his scouting report evaluation), severely regressed to his mean in the season’s second half.
However, there were signs that Wilson had some of the other tools to develop into a legitimate rotation piece. I’ve always been impressed with how he’s often ready to attack on the catch and his release has only gotten quicker. Equally important: He gets after things on both ends, thriving on broken plays. The Nets desperately need players who can be counted on to compete every night in what is expected to be a noncompetitive season.
Wilson has to feel confident about his game going into this upcoming training camp, as he’s performed at a 2024 Summer League MVP level in Las Vegas, averaging 24 points on 55.6% three-point shooting through four games. He put in Thursday night’s Elam Ending game winner with a driving layup to beat the Magic.
On Friday, the Nets reportedly traded for another high-energy guy in forward Ziaire Williams. Memphis will be sending Williams and a 2030 second-round pick to Brooklyn in exchange for Mamadi Diakite, who was salary filler from the Knicks in the Mikal Bridges trade, and a nondescript overseas stash from 2014. By dipping into the $9.5 million Royce O’Neale trade exception, Brooklyn was able to utilize about $3.8 million of its luxury tax room (they’re now about $4.3 million under the threshold, per NetsDaily) to acquire assets.
Williams was once a prized one, taken No. 10 overall by Memphis in the 2021 Draft. Then again, I’m guessing the age bias came into play there as well, as he hadn’t yet turned 20. In a ClutchPoints.com Re-Draft posted a few weeks ago, he was slotted at No. 27, which was where the Nets snagged uber-scoring guard Cam Thomas.
Now that he’ll be 23 during training camp, Williams will be in a position to undergo the serious development he’ll need to secure a second contract after his rookie deal expires at season's end. He owns a career 30% three-point percentage, which was actually a slight improvement over his rate during his freshman season at Stanford. That’s still not going to get you minutes, even at a lengthy 6-foot 9.
Still, this is a Sean Marks specialty. The Brooklyn General Manager found some successes taking such fliers during the 2016-2019 rebuild. And with Marks, age isn’t the end-all, be-all. Some forget that his two off-the-street reclamation project poster children were Joe Harris & Spencer Dinwiddie, who were 25 & 23.5, respectively, when Marks signed them. 2016 first-round pick Caris LeVert was 22 at his first Nets training camp. Marks doesn’t get them all right (no one does) but I’m thankful for his knack in finding guys who understand how to play basketball, as opposed to the more haphazard approach of guessing at teenage players’ potential.
It remains to be seen whether Williams will be another notch on Marks’ deep-dive explorer belt. I don’t believe that he’s washed up at 23.
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Summer League side note: I was close to including a Tyrese >Jaylen blurb in this post with regard to the Nets’ two (unrelated) Martins. That’s because it easily fit into the above narrative with Tyrese (25) outplaying Jaylen (20).
Both wings are listed at approximately the same size (6-foot 6, about 215 pounds) and both were elevated to Brooklyn’s starting five on Thursday due to the off days for Whitehead and point guard Jacob Gilyard. Through four games:
Tyrese: 11.5 points, 47/42/80 shooting split in 20.6 minutes per game
Jaylen: 10.3 points 38.7/15.4/88 shooting split in 26 minutes per game
Guys who make shots are supposed to be the ones who open eyes. Only Jaylen has the two-way contract and Tyrese is praying for any team to give him a training camp invite.
It turned out that on closer inspection, I wasn’t enamored with either Martin. Tyrese just isn’t athletic enough to guard NBA players—Summer League guys were blowing past him left and right and he barely got off the ground to contest 50/50 rebounds and loose balls. Meanwhile, Jaylen is your typical young player with tunnel vision on drives to the basket. His stroke may one day improve enough where his length and athleticism can win over decision-makers, but he needs to show it first.
In this case, neither age is beauty.