March 22, 2026, 4:00 p.m. CT
Finally, the Oklahoma City Thunder will have their full deck of cards for the first time in months. Jalen Williams is not listed on their injury report. He will be available for Monday’s game against the Philadelphia 76ers.
Williams is set to return from a 16-game absence. This latest string had to do with a second hamstring strain he’s dealt with this season. He’s been limited to 26 games this season. For a variety of reasons.
Williams missed OKC’s first 19 games as he recovered from two wrist surgeries to repair torn ligaments. The surgery was delayed until after the Thunder brought home the NBA championship. He played through their playoff run with the injury.
Once he returned, Williams needed time to knock off the rust. That explains his pedestrian stats of 17.5 points on 47.9% shooting, 5.4 assists and 4.7 rebounds. As it felt like he was turning the corner with his wrist woes, another injury setback happened.
Williams sustained a hamstring strain on Jan. 17 in a loss to the Miami Heat. He missed three weeks before he returned on Feb. 9 against the Los Angeles Lakers. Alas, his return was short-lived. He re-aggravated the injury in just his second game back on Feb. 11 in a win over the Phoenix Suns. Since then, he’s been sidelined with a hamstring strain.
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Good to see Williams back. The Thunder have 11 games left in the regular season. While they’ve barely felt his absence in their current 11-game win streak, everybody knows the reigning NBA champions will need the All-NBA player if they want to go back-to-back. He has about three weeks to knock off any rust before the games start to really matter.