The Oklahoma City Thunder’s 3-0 start has plenty of moving parts, but Ajay Mitchell is quickly becoming one of the most interesting ones.
After Sunday’s win over the Los Angeles Clippers, the young guard’s growth has started to show up night after night. Mitchell opened the season with a quiet outing against the Spurs, finishing with four points in 23 minutes.
That was the low point. Since then, he’s trended upward in a hurry.
Against the team’s second opponent, Mitchell posted 12 points and made life miserable on the defensive end with five steals and a block. He backed that up against the Clippers with his best performance yet: 18 points, three steals, six rebounds and four assists.
That kind of steady climb matters for Oklahoma City, especially with Jalen Williams injured and his timeline still unclear. Mitchell is the type of player who may be asked to absorb more responsibility again, just as he did last season.
He already showed what he can do in that role. Last season, Mitchell averaged 13.6 points per game for OKC and gave the team a reliable lift every time he was on the floor. With the roster now shaped differently and Williams potentially out again, the bar for Mitchell may rise even higher.
That doesn’t mean the Thunder need him to be Williams every night. But when the game tightens or the team is short-handed, Mitchell will need to keep proving why he entered this season with so much attention on him. He still has Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Chet Holmgren alongside him, but his importance is starting to grow.
He’ll have another chance to show it Monday night against the Suns in the second game of a back-to-back, with multiple players out and another opportunity for Mitchell to keep building on this early surge.
In Other News...
Thunders Unbeaten Start Suddenly Comes With A Worry Fans Will Feel
Oklahoma Citys unbeaten start kept rolling for most of the night against the Clippers, with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander carrying the offense and finishing with 27 points as the Thunder held a late lead in the fourth quarter. It was the kind of win that fit the early-season script for a team that has looked steady on both ends and confident in close games.
The concern arrived in the third quarter, when Jaylin Williams and Cason Wallace both exited with injuries and did not return. Williams was dealing with right wrist soreness, while Wallace had left shoulder soreness, and the sight of two rotation pieces heading to the bench at once is the sort of thing that can linger far longer than one regular-season game. [Read more 🡒]
Thunder Suddenly Have A Huge Jalen Williams Concern
The Thunder had one of those late-game moments nobody in Oklahoma City wanted to see when Jalen Williams went up for a dunk against the Clippers and came down awkwardly on his leg in the fourth quarter. The sequence turned quickly from a routine attacking play into a scary pause, with Williams eventually leaving the floor in a leg brace after being helped off.
Williams did manage to give the crowd a thumbs up before he exited, a small sign that offered some relief in the moment. Even so, the bigger concern now is the same one that follows any sudden injury like this, since the Thunder have not provided an official update on his status and will be waiting to learn how serious it is. [Read more 🡒]
Aday Mara Is Already Making OKC's Draft Choice Look Smarter
Aday Mara is already giving the Thunder a good early return on a draft decision that drew plenty of attention in the moment. Taken 12th overall, the big man has looked comfortable through his first three games, and the early read from Oklahoma City is that his defense and fit have been just as encouraging as the raw production.
For a team that values long-term upside but still wants immediate signs of progress, Maras start matters. Around the same Michigan pipeline of prospects, the opening stretch has been uneven, which only makes Maras smooth transition stand out more for the Thunder as they track whether they found the right player for this spot. [Read more 🡒]