The Oklahoma City Thunder began the new NBA season by winning on the road against San Antonio, a result that reinforced their standing as a leading contender to repeat as champions. About a week later, those hopes have taken a hit.
On Sunday, star Jalen Williams fractured a fibula and dislocated his left ankle. Williams was the team's second-leading scorer and best all-around defender during its title run. The same night, guard Cason Wallace, a tenacious defender and accurate shooter, tore the labrum in his shoulder.
General manager Sam Presti did not say how long either player would be out, though both are expected to miss at least several months. That puts their availability for a deep playoff run in serious doubt. Jeff Stotts, an athletic trainer who runs a site tracking sports injuries, wrote that since 2005 only one player has returned in the same season after a torn labrum like Wallace's.
"We'll get them back, we'll get them healthy, but we got a lot of basketball to play in front of us," Presti said Monday. Bringing Williams back healthy had been central to the Thunder's plan to return to the NBA Finals. Injuries kept him out for more than half of last season, and he also missed time in the Western Conference finals, which Oklahoma City lost to San Antonio in seven games.
The opening-night meeting between the two teams was widely viewed as a preview of the spring, when both rosters, built around superstars still in their 20s, were expected to compete again for a Finals berth. Two-time league MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said the team will feel the absence but expressed confidence in Williams. "He'll be back better than ever, and we know it. We've just got to hold the fort down until he comes back."
Oklahoma City is not alone. Minnesota's Anthony Edwards is expected to miss around two months after arthroscopic surgery on his right knee, according to ESPN. Utah's Jaren Jackson Jr. is reportedly out six to eight weeks with a right knee injury, and Orlando's Paolo Banchero will miss at least a month with an ankle injury. Indiana's Tyrese Haliburton and Orlando's Jalen Suggs will also miss time.
Dr. Tarek Souryal, a former president of the NBA Physicians Association who spent more than two decades as the Dallas Mavericks' team doctor, cautioned against reading too much into the cluster. "What you're witnessing is most likely a statistical aberration, not necessarily evidence of a systemic problem," he said.
The losses come at a delicate time for a roster Presti built through shrewd drafting and trades. The league's collective bargaining agreement makes it costly to keep a core together once players earn large, long-term extensions. As expensive contracts for Gilgeous-Alexander, Williams and Chet Holmgren began to take effect, the Thunder moved on from some rotation players last summer to avoid heavy penalties. They did keep Wallace, signing him to a five-year, $139 million extension in mid-October.
Those departures, combined with the injuries, have thinned the depth that once let Presti stay patient in trade talks. An executive for another NBA team said rivals were already watching to see whether Oklahoma City's approach might change.
Coach Mark Daigneault said the team handled the news well. "It's tough from a compassion standpoint," he said, adding that players had heard from Williams and seen Wallace, which helped them prepare to compete. Oklahoma City stands at 4-0, but how long it can stay atop the West is now one of the season's central questions.
