Jalen Wilson has never had issues producing when given an opportunity. After falling to the Brooklyn Nets at 51st in the 2023 draft, Wilson had the look of another late-round steal for general manager Sean Marks last season. Despite concerns about his shooting and athleticism, the 2023 Big 12 Player of the Year continued to impress at the NBA level using his hard-nosed defense and high basketball IQ.

After being named second-team All-Summer League last year, Wilson has again looked like one of the best players in Las Vegas over the last week. The 23-year-old has averaged 21.3 points and 3.7 rebounds through three games while leading the Nets to a 2-1 record. He led a 21-point comeback during Brooklyn's 92-85 win over the New York Knicks Tuesday.

Wilson finished with 27 points on 8-of-16 shooting from the field and 5-of-10 from three while making a noticeable defensive impact. That included a fourth-quarter stretch where he scored eight points over three consecutive possessions to give the Nets the lead. He iced the game with a dagger three with 24 seconds remaining.

“I very much so [view him as a leader],” Nets Summer League head coach Steve Hetzel said. “He's extremely poised. He never gets too high or too low. We've challenged him to be better defensively. Today was the best defense I've ever seen him play.”

“And then his shooting helps everything, at any level of basketball, because it provides space on the floor for his teammates. So the better he can shoot the ball, the more room there is for getting in a pick-and-roll or for Keon [Johnson] to attack one-on-one. His shooting provides all the space that we need.”

Jalen Wilson continues encouraging 3-point progression

Wilson's 3-point shooting was a concern coming out of Kansas, where he converted just 31.6 percent of his attempts over four seasons. However, he has improved considerably since turning pro.

Wilson shot 36.5 percent from distance during his rookie year if you add up his numbers from the Summer League, G-League and NBA. He's continued that encouraging progression at this year's Summer League, shooting 48.3 percent on 9.7 attempts per game.

“I just attribute it to my time being in Brooklyn,” Wilson said of his three-point improvement. “Everybody here is valuable with their time and wanting to get better every single day. I can call anyone no matter how early or late it is to get in the gym. 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 could receive expanded workload after Nets fire sale

Wilson spent the first half of last season buried behind a veteran wing rotation of Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, Dorian Finney-Smith and Royce O'Neale. He joined Brooklyn's rotation after the team traded Royce O'Neale at the trade deadline. After sending Bridges to the Knicks and entering a full rebuild, the Nets are expected to field offers for Johnson and Finney-Smith.

That could put Wilson near the top of the team's wing rotation in 2024-25. Following an encouraging rookie season, the second-year Net is confident he'll continue his NBA progression with added opportunity.

“I just [want to] compete, play hard and learn as much as I can,” Wilson said of his year two goals. “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.”

“I feel like it’s a blessing that we all have this opportunity to play and people have trust in us. It’s a great thing to have an organization that has confidence in all of us to go out and play and to build into it. So I just think it’s a great opportunity.”