Receiving a medical update email is never good. Especially in the offseason. A month before training camp starts, the Oklahoma City Thunder have already lost a player to the 2025-26 season. Thomas Sorber sustained a torn ACL that will force him to miss his first year.
The Thunder continue to deal with bad injury luck with their recent first-round picks. Sorber was the No. 15 pick of the 2025 NBA draft. He joins Chet Holmgren and Nikola Topic as OKC players who miss their first season.
It’s a brutal setback for the 19-year-old, as he missed the last two months of his college season at Georgetown due to foot surgery. It’ll be nearly 18 months between games played if Sorber is cleared to play in the 2026 Summer League.
Despite the devastating knee injury, the Thunder should survive Sorber’s absence. He likely wouldn’t have played significant minutes in his rookie season. He is buried on the depth chart behind Holmgren, Isaiah Hartenstein and Jaylin Williams.
After the Thunder announced Sorber’s torn ACL, he took to social media to give his first comments. He’s kept a glass-half-full perspective. It’s been a frustrating year, but the 19-year-old is young enough to overcome this speedbump and have a solid NBA career as OKC’s backup center.
Sorber took to his Instagram story to address Thunder fans. On the official announcement, he wrote: “We’ll be back.”
Now, Sorber will spend the 2025-26 season rehabbing his torn ACL. He will also learn from one of the better center rooms in the NBA. Albeit not in the capacity he would’ve liked — off the court instead of on it. There’s no real bright side to this type of injury, but all you can do is move and make the best of a bad situation.