Oklahoma City Thunder executive vice president and general manager Sam Presti told reporters on Monday that Thunder forward Jalen Williams, 24, will undergo surgery to repair a torn ligament in his right wrist in the off-season. Presti added that Williams is expected to be available for the start of the 2025-26 NBA regular season.
Presti said that Williams played with an injury to his shooting hand during Oklahoma City’s title run towards their first NBA championship. According to Thunder podcaster Andrew Schlecht, Williams’ injury happened during a victory over the Phoenix Suns in the final week of the regular season, which saw him finish with 33 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals and 2 turnovers.
Williams could be seen wearing a brace on that ailing right wrist during the postseason practice sessions and shootarounds, but didn’t miss any time. He shot under 40% from the field in nine of Oklahoma City’s 23 playoff games, and throughout Oklahoma City’s playoff run he averaged 21.4 points, 5.5 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 1.4 steals in 34.6 minutes per game as the Thunder won the Western Conference crown, and defeated the Indiana Pacers in seven games in the 2025 NBA Finals.
Presti said Monday: “The part that I’m most impressed with is in our modern era, when someone has a poor performance, or they’re not playing to their capability in a game and there’s a lot of attention on it, you often see a little birdie make sure that everybody knows that the player is not 100%. Never happened with this guy. Not one time. He powered through. He showed incredible mental endurance and security in himself.”
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