Oklahoma City wrapped up the top overall seed entering the 2025 playoffs when Cleveland lost to Indiana on Thursday. Unsurprisingly, most of the Thunder‘s rotation regulars — including the entire starting lineup — have already been ruled out for Friday’s matchup in Utah.
However, as Joel Lorenzi of The Oklahoman tweets, one player not listed on the injury report is rookie guard Ajay Mitchell. The 38th overall pick of last year’s draft, Mitchell has been out of action since January 3 due to a turf toe injury.
The Thunder announced on Jan. 10 that Mitchell had undergone a procedure to address the injury and would be reevaluated in 10-to-12 weeks. It has been 13 weeks since that announcement, so his recovery process seems to have gone pretty well.
According to Clemente Almanza of Thunder Wire, Mitchell has ramped up his activity over the past week, including going through pregame warmups on Tuesday.
Mitchell was one of the more impressive impressive rookies of 2024/25 prior to sustaining the injury, appearing in each of the Thunder’s first 34 games while averaging 6.4 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.7 assists on .506/.431/.848 shooting in 16.5 minutes per contest.
The 22-year-old was on a two-way deal at the time, but he was promoted to a two-year standard contract in February, making him eligible for the postseason.
It seems unlikely that Mitchell will be a part of the playoff rotation after such a lengthy layoff, but it’s obviously good news that he will be active for the first time in three months. OKC’s regular season will conclude on Sunday in New Orleans.