OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. — The Oklahoma City Thunder are trying to stay in the Western Conference mix while three of their usual starters remain on the sideline.
Chet Holmgren, Jalen Williams and Cason Wallace are all expected to miss an extended stretch, and there is a real chance Williams and Wallace do not play again during the regular season. Holmgren has a small tear in his patellar tendon and is lined up for a return around the New Year. Williams had an operation to fix a broken fibula. Wallace had an operation on a torn labrum. Both are due to be checked again before the 2026-27 regular season is over.
That is a heavy blow for a team that opened the year with title hopes. The absences have forced Oklahoma City to lean on the players who are healthy, with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander still at the center of the group and others filling minutes that used to belong to the missing starters.
There is a slightly better sign on the Holmgren front. While Williams and Wallace have not gotten back into basketball work yet, Holmgren was seen in the team’s shootaround before the club’s game at Portland on Tuesday, taking shots in workout gear even as he moved carefully. He had been given a recovery window of eight to 10 weeks, dating to Oct. 30, for that same tendon injury. The appearance was treated as a step in the right direction, though no firm date has been set for his return to the floor.
In the meantime, players who usually come off the bench have had to do more. Kenrich Williams, Aday Mara and Bennett Stirtz have taken on bigger roles, joining a healthy rotation that still features Gilgeous-Alexander along with Isaiah Hartenstein, Alex Caruso, Ajay Mitchell and Jared McCain.
How long Oklahoma City can keep winning this way is the open question. Holmgren’s expected return around the New Year would add a two-way presence the current rotation lacks. Until then, and unless Williams or Wallace is cleared later in the season, the Thunder have to find answers from the roster they have in Oklahoma City.
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