Report: Thunder’s Jalen Williams to make season debut vs. Suns

All-Star guard Jalen Williams is off the team’s injury report and will make his season debut against the Phoenix Suns on Friday, according to Shams Charania of ESPN on Thursday.

Williams missed the Thunder’s first 19 games of the season recovering from offseason wrist surgery after playing through a torn ligament in the team’s championship run.

The 23-year-old is coming off a breakout campaign, averaging career-bests on the boards in scoring (21.6), rebounds (5.3), assists (5.1) and steals (1.6). Not only did he earn his first All-Star nod, but Williams also made the All-NBA Third Team and All-Defensive Second Team.

Originally drafted 12th overall by the Thunder in 2022, Williams has been a cornerstone during the team’s rise to success. His month-long absence to start 2025-26 marked the longest injury layoff of his three-year NBA career, as Williams had yet to play fewer than 69 games in a season.

Through 215 career games (203 starts), Williams has averaged 18.1 points, 4.6 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.4 steals on 51.3 / 38.2 / 80.3 percent shooting splits.

Oklahoma City has barely lost without its de facto second-best player, surging to an 18-1 start to its championship-defending season — the fifth team all-time to open the year with such a record or better.

The Thunder head into Friday’s matchup against the Suns on a league-best 10-game winning streak — ranking in the top five on both sides of the ball while boasting the NBA’s highest net rating (plus-16.4).

Now they will add a rested and fit Williams to an already vaunted squad that is firing on all cylinders.