Published On: Fri, Nov 28th, 2025

Thunder's Jalen Williams set to make season debut Friday — 18-1 OKC just got better

The Oklahoma City Thunder are 18-1 with a +16.4 net rating that is the best in NBA history through 19 games — and they are about to get a lot better.

Their All-NBA forward Jalen Williams is officially off the Thunder's injury list and is expected to make his debut Friday when the Thunder take on the Suns in a critical NBA Cup game that will decide West Group 1. Shams Chrainia of ESPN was first with the news.

Williams missed training camp and the start of this season following surgery in July to repair a torn scapholunate ligament in his right wrist, something he had taken great steps to play through last postseason. In October, he had a second surgery on the same wrist to remove a screw that had been irritating him in the wrist.

Last season, Williams averaged 21.6 points, 5.3 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game while playing strong defense, which earned him his first All-Star and All-NBA nods. Unfortunately, because he missed too many games at the start of this season to reach the league's 65-game threshold, he cannot qualify for postseason awards this season. That means he can "only" make 25% of the salary cap when his contract extension kicks in — his salary will still jump from $ 6.6 million this season to $ 41.5 million next season.


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