Former KU Jayhawks wing Jalen Wilson emerges as key contributor with NBA’s Nets
In what might come as a surprise, a late second-round pick in the 2023 NBA Draft emerged as the Brooklyn Nets’ leader in total minutes played during the 2024-25 regular season.
It was Jalen Wilson — the No. 51 overall selection out of the University of Kansas — who logged 2,031 total minutes or 25.7 per game in 79 games.
Keon Johnson was runner-up with 1,925 minutes, also in 79 appearances.
“It was a great year. I had a lot of fun as far as getting to play,” Wilson told YES Network in an interview held after the final game of the season — an April 13 home loss to the New York Knicks in which he scored 18 points with four rebounds and four assists in 38 minutes.
“Especially starting off from year one, trying to find my way, to get to be able to play, and now year two being able to get a lot of good minutes ... we had some great wins, great battles and (I) just learned a lot,” Wilson added.
Wilson — a starter on KU’s 2022 NCAA title team — averaged 9.5 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game for the Nets, who suffered through a 26-56 season.
The 6-foot-6 native of Denton, Texas hit 246 of 620 shots for 39.7%. He went 122-of-362 from 3-point range for 33.7%.
As a rookie in 2023-24 playing on a two-way contract, he averaged 5.0 points per game in 43 games (three starts). He hit 42.5% of his shots (76-of-179) and was 24-of-74 from deep for 32.4%. Overall he started three of 43 games played as a rookie and 22 games in 2024-25. Also, he played in 11 NBA G League games during his rookie campaign.
“My feel for the game ... I think the game slowed down a lot game by game this year. It just came with getting reps,” Wilson said of progress made in Year Two.
“It came with starting the summer out the right way, then going into the season and just taking advantage of every opportunity. No matter how many minutes it was per game, just being prepared and being ready. Just growing and learning more about the game is something that I can continue to do. I was very blessed this year to have this opportunity and to just keep growing going into next season.”
Wilson, who turns 25 Nov. 4, had his first NBA contract converted to a standard rookie deal near the end of the 2023-24 season. He made $1,891,857 in 2024-25 and is under contract for next season ($2,221,677), with a club option that must be acted upon by June 29.
He is guaranteed $88,075 if the option is exercised by June 29. He’s guaranteed $381,695 if he’s on the team opening night and will receive full payment if he’s with the team on Jan. 10, 2026.
Wilson is confident he can continue to produce positive results. He hit 5 of 8 3’s in the season-finale vs. the Knicks. He was 6-of-10 from 3 en route to 20 points against Atlanta on April 10. Also he scored 20 points against Washington on March 29.
“Just being confident, understanding what we all are trying to do. We’re trying to put up a lot of 3’s. I just want to be a confident shooter. And I know that’s what the team needs,” Wilson said.
“Everyone has to be ready to shoot when the opportunity is there. So I’m just trying to what’s best for the team by shooting,” he added.
He has not made noticeable alterations to his shooting form since leaving college. At KU his senior year (2022-23) he averaged 20.1 points a game on 43% shooting. He hit 33.7% of his 3’s and also contributed 8.3 rebounds per contest.
“I don’t know if there’s a particular thing I changed,” Wilson said. “By talking with coaches , we want to put up a lot of 3s and there were times I would turn down shots. And I just decided I’m just going to shoot when I’m open, shoot when I need to. I think with just getting the shots up you gain more confidence. You see a couple go in and now you get on a roll. So I think that’s all it really was.”
Wilson said Jordi Fernandez, who just completed his first year as an NBA head coach, stressed Wilson and his teammates should “get 1% better every single day. And I think that you just saw through the summer, through the season, we just collectively came together more and more with our effort, with our grit. We’re not going to win every single game, but I think every single game we showed how we can compete. And I think that that’s something that Jordi brought to the table since day one, how hard can we play and can we be consistent with that every single night?”
As far as the immediate future, the Nets are expected to continue in rebuild mode. Wilson is a part of a young set of players that includes Johnson, Reece Beekman, Noah Clowney, Tosan Evbuomwan, Tyrese Martin, Day’Ron Sharpe, Drew Timme, and Dariq Whitehead.
“Continue to get better, continue to put up a lot of shots, continue to work on my body, continue to listen to the coaches, understand what they want me to do and do everything I need to do at a high level,” Wilson said of his immediate plans for the summer.
The Nets are expected to be active in free agency with approximately $100 million in cap space available. Brooklyn has 30 picks in the next seven NBA Drafts.
After a loss to Atlanta in the last week of the season, Nets coach Fernandez praised both Wilson and Martin. “They are very good professionals and when their numbers are called they are ready to play,” Fernandez said. “You can tell. They are locked in. They’ve done a great job the whole season. That’s the attitude I want. I would have wanted 10 guys with their professionalism and their attitude and being locked in and ready to play (vs. the Hawks). Unfortunately we had two out of 10.”
Of Wilson, the Nets’ coach said in October: “He’s one of the best conditioned guys on our team.”
That’s evidenced by his leading the squad ... in minutes.
This story was originally published April 21, 2025 at 10:00 AM with the headline "Former KU Jayhawks wing Jalen Wilson emerges as key contributor with NBA’s Nets."
