Where does Oklahoma City go from here?

It was a devastating 24 hours in Oklahoma City. Everyone who saw Jalen Williams go down against the Clippers knew how bad it was, as Thunder GM Sam Presti put it, “This is an injury that generally we see more in football players.” On top of that came the news that Cason Wallace has a torn labrum and will need to undergo surgery. Presti and OKC won’t put a timeline on things, but history suggests neither player will touch the court again this season.

Now what?

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What should we expect from the Thunder going forward? First: Expect a lot of wins. This team was without Williams for large chunks of last regular season and still won 64 games, most in the NBA. In their one game so far without their two starters (not to mention no Chet Holmgren or Alex Caruso), the Thunder still easily handled the Suns. The other change is that while the defense will still be good, it will not be elite. Instead, this is about to become an offensive team. That wins a lot of regular-season games.

But what about the playoffs? And what should we look for?

More Ajay Mitchell, Jared McCain

The Thunder have a natural replacement for Wallace: Ajay Mitchell. In his first game in that role this season, Mitchell stepped up, showed off his physicality and midrange game, and dropped 30 on the Suns.

Mitchell is not the All-Defense-level player on that end that Wallace is, but he works hard and is a plus defender who fits within the system.

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Williams is a more difficult role to fill, largely because there aren’t other players like him. There will be more Alex Caruso, but coach Mark Daigneault and the Thunder know they can’t overtax him. Jared McCain will get more minutes, but he is a guard, not a forward. Kenrich Williams may see the biggest jump in minutes, and he is rock solid, but he’s not an All-NBA level talent like Williams.

Lean into center rotation

Oklahoma City has the best big man rotation in the NBA. Chet Holmgren — second in Defensive Player of the Year voting last season while averaging 17.1 points per game — and Isaiah Hartenstein start at the four and five. However, what makes this work is the depth. Jaylin Williams…

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Publish date : 2026-10-27 20:48:00

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