The Oklahoma City Thunder front office has assembled one of the best young cores in the entire NBA. Led by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Josh Giddey, the Thunder have some of the brightest young stars in the league. But it's the “in-between” moves that rebuilding teams have to nail so they could build a sustainable contending outfit, and the Thunder front office has done just that, drafting another future star in Jalen Williams with the 12th pick of the 2023 NBA Draft.

Williams rose late in the draft process in 2022, wowing scouts and talent evaluators with his performance in the draft combine. But according to Williams' fellow 2022 draftee Chet Holmgren, the 22-year old wing looked like he was destined for greatness even back during his days at Santa Clara.

Speaking with Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson on SHOWTIME Basketball's All the Smoke podcast, Holmgren revealed when he knew Thunder teammate Jalen Williams was going to become a monster.

“He's a hooper. I knew he was really good before all the NBA stuff. We played against him in conference play in college. We smacked his team by like 30. But he had 20 each game. So like I knew he could hoop. Not trying to take too many shots at Santa Clara but we're kind of on top of the WCC,” Holmgren said.

Jalen Williams was a junior at Santa Clara in his final year at college, and he exploded in Year 3, averaging 18.0 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 4.2 assists for the Broncos. He also shot the ball efficiently during the 2021-22 season, making 51.3 percent of his shots from the field and 39.6 percent from deep.

Alas, he didn't have the best track record of success, so when the Thunder took him in the lottery, it didn't exactly draw universal praise. But Williams quickly turned those sentiments round, as it didn't take long for him to cement himself in the OKC rotation for good.

In 2023, it'll now be up to Chet Holmgren to become the next Thunder rookie to impress and cement himself as a long-term keeper. But given the Thunder front office's penchant for drafting well, it'll be more of a surprise if Holmgren fails to match expectations.