Thunder’s Jalen Williams will make his season debut Friday: 18-1 OKC just improved

The Oklahoma City Thunder are 18-1 with a +16.4 net rating that’s the best in NBA history through 19 games — and they’re 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 face the Suns in a critical NBA Cup game that will decide Group 1 West. ESPN’s Shams Chrainia was first to break the news.

Announcement

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 made great strides to address last postseason. In October he underwent a second surgery on the same wrist to remove a screw that was irritating his wrist.

Last season, Williams averaged 21.6 points, 5.3 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game while playing defense, which earned him his first All-Star and All-NBA nominations. Unfortunately, because he missed too many games earlier this season to reach the league’s 65-game threshold, he cannot qualify for postseason awards this season. This means he will “only” be able to earn 25% of the salary cap when his contract extension takes effect: his salary will still rise from $6.6 million this season to $41.5 million next season.