Thunder guard Jalen Williams will undergo surgery to fix a torn ligament in his right wrist, according to Rylan Stiles of the Locked on Thunder podcast (Twitter links).
General manager Sam Presti made the announcement today, revealing that Williams played two months with the injury. Presti added that the surgery was expected once the playoffs ended and said it’s impressive that Williams “kept moving along with no excuses and obviously played his best basketball down the stretch of the season.”
He added that Williams should be ready when next season tips off.
Williams made his first All-Star appearance this year and turned in the best season of his career, averaging 21.6 points, 5.3 rebounds and 5.1 assists in 69 games. He was a third-team All-NBA selection and a second team All-Defensive honoree.
He was also one of the stars of Oklahoma City’s championship run, contributing a 40-point outburst in a Game 5 win over Indiana in the NBA Finals and averaging 23.6 PPG for the series.
Williams will be eligible for a rookie scale extension this summer that could cement his long-term future with the Thunder. He’ll make $6.58MM next season.
Only 24 and not even close to entering his prime….
I watched every Thunder game this postseason and only today realized that they have two separate players both essentially named Jalen Williams.
I figured this was coming. Him looking at his wrist and yelling at it after hitting that huge 3 in the Denver series along with some sloppy ball handling at times, you just knew something wasn’t right with that wrist. Love that they still got the ring. JDub is 1 of 1.
JDub is a absolute beast. Incredible agility & versatility. More than anyone, it’s him that set fire to the tired narrative saying young teams cant win a title. He has to be 1 of the youngest guys since Kobe to be a top2 guy on a title winning team. This performance in Denver with the series tied, Shai struggling & his team needing him to step up shows that even a 22/23yo is capable of greatness… link to m.youtube.com