5:45pm: Wilson’s deal is now official, according to a press release from the Nets.
2:50pm: Wilson’s deal will include a partial guarantee for 2024/25 and a team option on the ’25/26 season, league sources tell Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).
2:16pm: The Nets are promoting Jalen Wilson from his two-way contract and will give him a spot on their standard 15-man roster, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, who reports (via Twitter) that the rookie forward will sign a new three-year deal.
After winning a national championship with Kansas in 2022, Wilson led the Jayhawks in scoring (20.1 PPG) and rebounding (8.3 RPG) as a redshirt junior in 2022/23. He was named a first-team All-American and the Big 12 Player of the Year before entering the 2023 draft, where he was selected with the No. 51 overall pick by the Nets.
Wilson didn’t play much at the NBA level earlier this season but impressed in the G League with the Long Island Nets, averaging 19.3 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 3.2 assists in 33.0 minutes per game across 22 appearances in the Showcase Cup and NBAGL regular season. He posted a shooting line of .471/.380/.745 in those contests.
Wilson’s strong play with Long Island has helped earn him a spot in Brooklyn’s rotation in recent weeks. Since February 6, he has played in all 10 of the Nets’ games, averaging 5.5 PPG, 2.6 RPG, and 1.5 APG on .444/.500/.667 shooting in 18.9 MPG.
The Nets have an open spot on their 15-man roster, so no corresponding move will be required to make room for Wilson. Once his promotion is official, the club will have an open two-way slot and will face a March 4 deadline to fill it.
Brooklyn will use a portion of its mid-level exception in order to sign Wilson to a contract exceeding two seasons. Additional details on the deal aren’t yet known.
Just how many Jalen/Jalens are there in the league right now? Off the top of my head I can think of Wilson, Brown, Brunson, Williams, Williams, Green, Johnson, Smith, Nowell and Suggs.
What was trending 25 years ago that resulted in the explosion of Jalens?
Jalen Rose, maybe?
Well, Jalen Rose was at the height of his NBA career then.
From his Wikipedia page: “Rose’s mother, Jeanne, named him from a combination of his father’s name, James, and his uncle’s name, Leonard. As a result of Rose’s prominence in the NCAA and NBA, Jalen became one of the most popular names for African-American boys born in the 1990s and early 2000s. A number of notable American athletes who began play in the 2010s are named Jalen, after Rose, including Jalen Hurts, Jalen Mayfield, Jalen Green, Jalen Suggs, and Jaylen Waddle. In 2021, there were 32 players with some variation of the name Jalen on rosters in the NBA, NFL, and other North American professional sports, with an additional 80 who played men’s college basketball.”
Jalen Wilson
Jalen Green
Jalen Williams
Jalen Brunson
Jalen Duren
Jalen McDaniels
Jalen Johnson
Jalen Hood-Schifano
Jalen Pickett
Jalen Slawson
Jalen Crutcher
Jalen Smith
Jaylen Nowell
Jaylen Brown
Jaylen Clark
Jaylen Martin
Jaylin Williams
BONUS: currently suspended from the league, Jalen Harris
Jalen League