With Chet Holmgren sidelined until sometime in 2025 and Isaiah Hartenstein and Jaylin Williams still not ready to return, expect the Thunder to fully lean into small-ball lineups, writes Joel Lorenzi of The Oklahoman. The team has the roster flexibility to add a veteran center via free agency if it so chooses, but head coach Mark Daigneault seems to enjoy playing small, Lorenzi notes — now it has become a necessity rather than an option.
In their first game without Holmgren on Monday, the Thunder ran out a starting lineup of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, Luguentz Dort, Isaiah Joe, and Aaron Wiggins, making their point guard (Gilgeous-Alexander) the tallest player on the court at 6’6″. And the three reserves who saw the most minutes – Alex Caruso, Cason Wallace, and Ajay Mitchell – were no more than 6’5″.
Still, the Thunder made those small lineups work and pulled out a victory over the Clippers, largely due to the heroics of Gilgeous-Alexander, who scored a career-high 45 points, as Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN writes. According to Thunder PR, the guard became the first player in NBA history to have at least 45 points, nine assists, five steals, and two blocks in a game. Gilgeous-Alexander won’t play like that every night, but he’s confident Oklahoma City can keep winning games despite missing its big men.
“We’ve been there before,” he said, per Youngmisuk. “We’ve won games playing small, and we can do it again.”
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Thunder forward Kenrich Williams is no longer listed on the team’s injury report, meaning he’ll be available to make his season debut on Monday vs. the Clippers after missing the team’s first 10 games of the season (hat tip to Joel Lorenzi of The Oklahoman).
Williams underwent an arthroscopic debridement procedure on his right knee in mid-September, sidelining him for training camp, the preseason, and the start of the regular season. He was assigned to the G League for practice purposes over the weekend, indicating that he was nearing a return.
Williams, who will turn 30 next month, saw his playing time decline last season for the Thunder after averaging 22.0 minutes per game in his first three years in Oklahoma City. In 69 outings in 2023/24, the 6’6″ forward averaged 4.7 points and 3.0 rebounds in just 14.9 minutes per contest.
A solid defender who has made 38.8% of his attempts from beyond the arc since joining the Thunder in 2020, Williams slid down the depth chart as a result of younger players like Jalen Williams, Isaiah Joe, Aaron Wiggins, and Cason Wallace taking on increased roles.
There’s no guarantee that Williams will actually see the floor on Monday despite being available. However, a couple factors are working in his favor. Not only is it the second night of a back-to-back set for Oklahoma City, but the club is missing its top three big men (Chet Holmgren, Isaiah Hartenstein, and Jaylin Williams) due to injuries and could use another healthy body in its frontcourt.
Although Williams entered the league as more of a wing, Basketball-Reference’s play-by-play data indicates he spent 93% of his minutes last season as a power forward or center. That data is somewhat subjective, but with three centers unavailable, the Thunder could certainly turn to Williams as a de facto big man in small-ball lineups.
Thunder big man Chet Holmgren has been diagnosed with a right iliac wing fracture after taking a hard fall during the first quarter of the team’s loss to Golden State on Sunday (video link), Oklahoma City announced in a press release (Twitter link via Rylan Stiles of SI.com). An iliac wing fracture is a form of pelvic fracture.
While the Thunder say Holmgren is expected to return to action later in the 2024/25 season, he’ll be out for an extended period. The plan is to reevaluate him in eight-to-10 weeks, per the club.
The No. 2 overall pick in the 2022 draft, Holmgren missed his entire rookie season due to a foot injury, then appeared in all 82 regular season games in 2023/24.
“Can’t tell if I feel better or worse about this, having been through something similar before,” Holmgren wrote on Twitter. “On one hand I know how to approach it, I know what to do, what not to do and how beautiful the other side is. But on the other hand I’ve felt the frustration of this process, and the wear it puts on your mind.
“Most of all I’m hurt I can’t help my teammates and play for our fans and supporters for a while. Everyone who sticks with me and our team, along with my need for hoops, is a big part of my passion to return. Don’t pity me or feel bad, there’s lots of people out there right now with real problems that don’t heal.”
Holmgren’s injury is a tough blow to a Thunder team that entered the season as the favorite to be the Western Conference’s No. 1 seed and had lived up to expectations this fall, winning eight of its first nine games before falling to the Warriors on Sunday.
Holmgren, last year’s Rookie of the Year runner-up, had been a key part of that early success, averaging 18.2 points, 9.2 rebounds, and 2.9 blocks in 28.9 minutes per game across nine outings, with a .519/.400/.776 shooting line.
The Thunder signed center Isaiah Hartenstein in free agency over the summer to bolster their frontcourt and help out Holmgren in the middle, but Hartenstein has been sidelined in recent weeks with an injury of his own, having fractured his left hand during the preseason.
Oklahoma City announced nearly four weeks ago that Hartenstein would be reevaluated in five-to-six weeks, so that exam will happen soon. While there’s no indication yet that his return is imminent, it sounds like he should be back on the court well before Holmgren is.
The Thunder have also been waiting on big man Jaylin Williams, who went down with a hamstring strain nearly two weeks ago. He’s expected to remain sidelined for a few more weeks.
Until the Thunder gets Hartenstein and Williams back, the team will have to rely on smaller lineups, as it did on Sunday after Holmgren’s exit. Aaron Wiggins and Isaiah Joe opened the second half alongside usual starters Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Luguentz Dort, and Jalen Williams. Ousmane Dieng, a 6’10” forward, is also a candidate for an increased role.
“This is a resilient, tough, competitive, adaptive team,” head coach Mark Daigneault said after the game, per The Athletic. “And that’s what we’re gonna be regardless of the circumstance.”
It’s worth noting that rookie forward Malevy Leons is currently occupying the Thunder’s 15th roster spot on a non-guaranteed deal. If the team wants to bring in a veteran center on a temporary basis, he’d be the most likely release candidate. As Michael Scotto of HoopsHype points out (via Twitter), 13-year vet Bismack Biyombo – who spent part of last season in OKC, is among the top options available in free agency.
After missing all of last season due to knee surgery, Steven Adams has been active for just four of the Rockets‘ first nine games this season, including his return to Oklahoma City on Friday. The veteran center is fully on board with not playing every game, recognizing that his recovery from last year’s surgery is an ongoing process that needs to be handled carefully, writes Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle (subscription required).
“As you progress, you feel a slightly bit better,” Adams said. “It’s natural for you to think that you could just go and do whatever you want. But that’s not the case because we have this new confidence because then it would create a pretty serious setback. So, just being able to be real about it and just obviously lean on the advice and the overall process that we put in place and really just relying on that.”
Entering Friday’s game, Adams had averaged just 12.3 minutes per game across three appearances, well shy of his career average of 26.8 MPG. The big man likely won’t approach that mark this season, but he could see his role expand to some extent if he makes it through the first few weeks of the season with no health-related setbacks. So far, so good on that front.
“I feel good,” Adams said ahead of Friday’s matchup with the Thunder, per Feigen. “It’s fun to be out there, good to get some reps with the boys.”
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Guard Alex Caruso, acquired from Chicago in an offseason trade, has been a non-factor offensively for the Thunder through eight games. He’s averaging just 2.6 points and 2.5 assists while shooting 23.7% from the field. He’s also averaging just 4.8 shot attempts in 19.9 minutes.
Caruso, a defensive ace, isn’t worried about his limited contributions on offense.
“I just try to do whatever the team needs to win,” Caruso told The Oklahoman’s Joel Lorenzi. “The last couple years in Chicago, we had guys out. I was on the ball a little more as a lead guard, but here we got Shai (Gilgeous-Alexander), we got Dub (Jalen Williams). Even Cason (Wallace)’s on the ball a little more. We got a lot of options. So for me, it’s just about figuring out how I help us win games. Right now, it’s not taking 10 shots a night.”
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The NBA season tipped off two weeks ago today and 28 of the league’s 30 teams have lost at least once since then. In fact, 25 of 30 have already dropped at least three games.
One team in each conference still has an unblemished record though, with the Cavaliers leading the Eastern Conference at 8-0 while the Thunder sit atop the Western Conference at 7-0.
Oklahoma City’s performance so far is probably less of a surprise, given that the team’s projected over/under of 56.5 wins during the preseason was four games ahead of any other Western team — we knew the Thunder were going to be really good.
Still, OKC deserves kudos for living up to the hype in the early going despite missing top offseason free agent addition Isaiah Hartenstein, who has yet to make his regular season Thunder debut due to a fractured hand.
Even without Hartenstein, the club has the NBA’s best net rating (+17.1), buoyed by a defensive rating (93.8) that is over eight points per 100 possessions better than that of the second-place Warriors (102.1). The Thunder have won every single one of their games so far by at least 12 points, going 4-0 on the road and 3-0 at home.
Their schedule has certainly helped. Four of the Thunder’s seven wins have come against lottery teams from last season (the Bulls, Hawks, Spurs, and Trail Blazers), while two others have come against teams who have key players injured (the Clippers and Magic). OKC’s most impressive win was its season-opening victory in Denver against a Nuggets team that hasn’t quite looked like itself in the early going.
Still, the Thunder have easily handled the opponents across the floor from them, which is all you can ask for. As they look to extend their win streak, they’ll visit Denver again on Wednesday before beginning a six-game homestand that includes matchups against the Rockets (this Friday), Warriors (Nov. 10), Clippers (Nov. 11), Pelicans (Nov. 13), Suns (Nov. 15), and Mavericks (Nov. 17).
Over in the East, the Cavaliers were considered a potential top-four seed, but few were counting on them to come out of the gates quite like this.
The Cavs have had the NBA’s second-best offense (121.0 rating) and its fifth-best defense (108.3) so far, for an overall net rating of +12.7. They rank atop the league in true shooting percentage (63.0%) and assist-to-turnover ratio (2.28-to-1).
Like the Thunder, Cleveland has been missing a key rotation player – starting small forward Max Strus – but has done a good job of getting by in his absence, with Dean Wade, Caris LeVert, Sam Merrill, and Isaac Okoro all providing solid minutes on the wing, while Ty Jerome has thrived as the team’s backup point guard after missing nearly all of last season due to an ankle injury.
The Cavs’ schedule to open the season was somewhat soft, with their first three victories coming against Toronto, Detroit, and Washington. They’ve also benefited from getting to play the Magic (without Banchero) and the struggling Bucks (twice) at the right time. But they had good wins over the Knicks (in New York) and the Lakers (by 24 points).
The Cavs will be in New Orleans on Wednesday before hosting the Warriors and Nets for a back-to-back set on Friday and Saturday. Next week, they play in Chicago (Nov. 11) and Philadelphia (Nov. 13), then return home to face the Bulls (Nov. 15) and Hornets (Nov. 17).
We want to hear your early impressions of the league’s two remaining undefeated teams.
When do you expect the Thunder and Cavaliers to take their first loss? Could they stay perfect for another week or two? Are their hot starts the beginning of big seasons in Oklahoma City and Cleveland, or do you expect the two clubs to start sliding in the standings a little after their win streaks come to an end? Has their play this fall made you any more bullish about their chances to get past the second round of the playoffs in the spring?
Head to the comment section below to weigh in with your thoughts!
Timberwolves point guard Mike Conley spoke in more detail this week about the left wrist injury he has dealt with for the last few years, admitting that it prevented him from golfing over the summer after he fell on the wrist last season and aggravated an old ligament issue, per Jerry Zgoda of The Minneapolis Star Tribune. Still, Conley has gotten used to playing through the injury and plans to continue doing so.
“When I’m 50, I’ll get surgery, not right now,” he said. “The surgery is a little bit complex and I’ve been playing with it for years, so I feel like I’ll just finish it.”
Entering Friday’s bout with Denver, Conley was shooting just 22.6% from the field through Minnesota’s first four games this season, including 27.3% on three-pointers. While the wrist issue may be a factor in the veteran’s shooting struggles, the sample size is small and he’s confident those numbers will improve once he gets through an early-season adjustment period.
“I’m just trying to work back the strength of it,” Conley said. “That’s the biggest thing. The pain and stuff is gone. But there are some times when I’ll shoot it and think, ‘Ah, that’s good,’ and it’ll be like two feet short. So you’re just trying to gauge the differences and work through that as the season goes forward.”
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