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It will not shock you to know that “Jalen” was the most common name in the NBA last year, with 12 players who played a minute sporting the moniker (and eight more sporting some variation, like Jaylen, Jaylon, or Jaylin). It’s so common that the Oklahoma City Thunder famously drafted two different Ja(y)l(e/i)n Williamses on the same night. It’s everywhere!
ESPN’s Eric Woodyard ran a feature a few years ago highlighting how the name rose to prominence on the back of Jalen Rose, but nobody has asked the important question: Could a team of All-Jalens win the NBA Finals?
(Folks, it’s August. Bear with me.)
It might sound crazy, but let’s not jump to conclusions. We have exactly enough players who played at least one minute in the NBA last year to make a 12-man roster, even without signing any Jaylens or Jaylins. I took a stab at an initial depth chart. Behold:
PG: Jalen Brunson, Jalen Suggs
SG: Jalen Green, Jalen Pickett, Jalen Hood-Schifino
SF: Jalen Williams, Jalen Wilson, Jalen Bridges
PF: Jalen Johnson, Jalen McDaniels
C: Jalen Duren, Jalen Smith
That’s a pretty solid starting five! Let’s break it down by position.
Point Guard: Jalen Brunson is the offensive fulcrum. The Jalens won’t need to lean upon Brunson quite as hard as the Knicks do, but he’s a one-man offense who is also effective as an off-ball shooter. He’d make hay playing catch with Johnson and Duren:
When Brunson needs a breather (or the team needs more defense), Jalen Suggs is ready to snap into action. Suggs is arguably the best point-of-attack defender in the league, and he’s comfortable spacing the floor on nights when another Jalen is cooking with peanut oil. I’d imagine the coach (Jalen Rose?) would sub him in for Green early in the first and third quarters to take on top defensive duties and give Green a chance to run the second unit. Suggs immediately becomes a contender for Sixth Man of the Year.
Shooting Guard: Jalen Green slots in as the starting two-guard, although he may come off the bench on nights when Suggs needs to start for his defensive playmaking. Green’s own defense is still limited but improving, and perhaps being the third or fourth offensive option on his team can help him chart a path to more efficient shooting. Regardless of his eventual role, the Jalens will need his off-the-dribble verve:
Jalen Pickett is a steady game manager with a reliable three-pointer who can play either guard position. Hood-Schifino is a break-glass-in-case-of-emergency scoring option.
Small Forward: Jalen Williams made All-NBA and All-Defensive teams last year en route to dropping 40 points in an NBA Finals game. He can defend anyone from point guards to centers and is used to playing off of a player like Brunson, thanks to his experience with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. He might lead this team in minutes, particularly if the Jalens decide to utilize him as a small-ball five. Jalen Wilson is a shooter with some size, but I mostly included him so I could mention how he has zero NBA dunks in nearly 2,700 career minutes. Jalen Bridges clocked 30 total minutes last season, so if the Jalens need him for much, the season has gone pear-shaped.
Power Forward: Jalen Johnson is a Swiss Army Knife as capable of dropping off-handed dimes as erasing some poor sucker’s terrified layup attempt:
Johnson’s box full of tools lets him fit anywhere on the court next to any teammates (and since this is a fantasy exercise, we won’t bring up his health woes). I’d love to see him run some inverted pick-and-rolls with Brunson. Jalen McDaniels is a tweener forward who can add some end-of-bench versatility.
Center: The middle is the team’s relative weak point, but it’s far from terrible. Jalen Duren is an athletic pick-and-roll partner for Brunson with burgeoning rim-protection instincts, while Jalen Smith is a board-eater with some shooting chops who can play the four or five in a pinch. Theoretically, Smith could allow the Jalens to play a bit of five-out offense to help space the floor for their bevy of talented creators.
There is an astonishing amount of positional versatility on this roster, and there’s plenty of high-end talent, to boot. Brunson has received MVP votes, Williams is one of the league’s brightest up-and-coming stars, and Johnson should have been an All-Star last year. Your mileage may vary on Green, but there’s no doubting the potential.
Depth would be a problem, as would perimeter defense, but if the team stayed healthy, there is a lot of creation and scoring in the primary rotation. They’d be a good team. But could the Jalens be the best team? More succinctly: Could they beat the Oklahoma City Thunder, employer of both Jalen and Jaylin Williams?
The Jalens’ greatest weakness would be somewhat similar to OKC’s: While most players on the team can hit a three-pointer, few are knockdown shooters. The Thunder’s defense could pack the paint to stymie the drives of Brunson, Williams, and Johnson. On the other end, the Jalens are reasonably well-equipped to do the same, although both Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein are better rim protectors than Duren at this point.
Nobody on the Jalens is as good as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, although Brunson can have a similar offensive impact on his absolute best nights. Jalen Williams cancels himself out (wouldn’t it be hilarious watching him guard himself?), but Jalen Johnson and Jalen Green are well above-average third and fourth bananas. The Jalens could replicate the same kind of full-steam-ahead pace that the Indiana Pacers successfully played with during the playoffs, potentially wearing the Thunder players down.
The Jalens have better overall shot-creators in the starting unit, but OKC’s defensive anchors are stronger, and they have the MVP. I’d give the edge to Oklahoma, but the Jalens would have a puncher’s chance.
There’s obviously no realistic way to test this, but the fine folks at WhatIfSports, a website I’d regrettably never heard of before today, allow you to run simulations based on advanced statistics using fantasy rosters. Naturally, I spent way too much time importing teams and fine-tuning rotations (How much burn does Suggs deserve at point guard? Can I shoehorn in any Jalen Williams minutes at center?) until I was happy I had a realistic, effective rotation.
I then simulated a seven-game series, giving the Thunder home-court advantage in deference to their historic 2024-25 regular season. Oklahoma City took Game 1 comfortably, but the Jalens stole home court advantage in Game 2 thanks to a buzzer-beating three-pointer from Jalen Johnson (27 points and 10 rebounds!) and a disciplined defense that only allowed one free throw to SGA.
However, OKC re-established control in Games 3 and 4, taking both games on the road in blowouts (the Thunder’s Jalen Williams outscored the Jalens’ Jalen Williams by nearly 20 points over those two games!). The Jalens were determined to put up more of a fight, and they came out blazing behind an unexpected 12-point first half from Jalen Smith, of all people. Ultimately, they lost Game 5 in a two-point nail-biter as Brunson struggled through a 3-for-18 performance against Alex Caruso, Cason Wallace, and Lu Dort. With their top scorer in handcuffs, the Jalens simply couldn’t muster enough offense.
Overall, the series was 4-1, featuring only two close games. So there you have it! Science says that the Thunder would easily triumph over the All-Jalen team.
(Is it time for preseason ball yet?)
For more from Mike Shearer, check out Basketball Poetry for good NBA analysis and bad jokes.
This article originally appeared on Hoops Hype: Could you win an NBA title just with Jalens?
Reporting by Mike Shearer / Hoops Hype
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