Thunder's Jalen Williams undergoes follow-up procedure on wrist that delays his return to play

The defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder are 6-0, and their No. 2 scoring option isn’t even back in the lineup yet.

They’ll have to wait a little longer for Jalen Williams’ return, though, as the standout, two-way wing has undergone a follow-up procedure on his right wrist and will be re-evaluated in 10-14 days, the team announced Friday.

The procedure was performed at Cedars-Sinai Health in Los Angeles, where Williams had a screw removed in the wrist of his shooting hand. The screw was creating irritation during the final stages of his return-to-play process.

Williams originally had offseason surgery to repair a torn ligament in the wrist and, at the time, was expected to be available for the start of the 2025-26 campaign.

In July, Williams agreed to a five-year maximum rookie contract extension with the Thunder that reportedly could reach $287 million.

The 24-year-old is coming off a breakout season, in which he averaged 21.6 points, 5.3 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 1.6 steals per game for a 68-win Oklahoma City squad that won it all.

Although his numbers occasionally fluctuated, he kept up that kind of production during the Thunder’s playoff run while delivering iconic performances, such as a 34-point clinic in Game 4 of the Western Conference finals against the Minnesota Timberwolves and a 40-point NBA Finals masterclass in a series-tilting Game 5 win over the Indiana Pacers.

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What made those outings all the more impressive was the fact that Williams quietly suffered his wrist injury in the final week of the regular season, during an April 9 victory against the Phoenix Suns.

In a post-surgery video on his YouTube channel this summer, Williams explained that he had already been dealing with a wrist sprain the majority of the season. A jump ball with Suns star Devin Booker made things more difficult for him.

“I remember pulling my hand out the mix, bro, and I kind of heard almost, like, a paper-ripping noise — or, like, air, like a switch,” Williams said in the July video. “And I’m, like, looking around a little bit, and then my hand is just on fire. The whole top of my wrist is on fire.”

Still, Williams clocked out of that game with 33 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals in 36 minutes. He noted in that same YouTube video that he received lidocaine injections before every Thunder playoff game to relieve his wrist pain before tipoff.

The Thunder can afford Williams’ recovery taking longer than expected.

After sweating out back-to-back double-overtime wins to start the season, Oklahoma City has more handily rattled off four more victories, in large part thanks to the continued stardom of reigning NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

Thunder’s Jalen Williams undergoes follow-up procedure on wrist that delays his return to play

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