The Thunder don’t have the luxury of leaning on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for everything right now, and that’s exactly why Ajay Mitchell’s rise matters so much.
Oklahoma City is dealing with a tough injury stretch after Jalen Williams and Cason Wallace went down last week against the Los Angeles Clippers. Those losses aren’t small ones.
They change the shape of the team, and they hit both ends of the floor. Williams gives the Thunder another downhill scorer and playmaking hub, while Wallace brings elite perimeter defense.
Losing both this early puts the team in a spot it clearly didn’t want to be in.
That showed up Wednesday night against the Dallas Mavericks. Gilgeous-Alexander had to carry even more of the load, and by the start of the second half he looked worn down.
For a team that wants to stay in the hunt all season, that’s a dangerous place to be. Oklahoma City can’t ask its superstar to drag the roster through an 82-game grind by himself and expect him to be fresh when the playoffs arrive.
That’s where Mitchell enters the picture.
Over the past two games, he has started to look like a real breakout candidate while Williams and Wallace are out. Against the Phoenix Suns on Monday, Mitchell scored a career-high 30 points, hitting 10 of 16 shots and adding two rebounds and five assists.
He backed that up with 29 points against Dallas. The Thunder didn’t get the win, but the performance was another strong sign that his game is taking a real step forward.
Mitchell’s value goes beyond just filling minutes. With Williams sidelined, Oklahoma City needs another player who can create his own offense and keep the defense honest.
Mitchell has already shown he can attack downhill and get to the basket without needing Gilgeous-Alexander to set everything up. If his perimeter shot becomes more dependable, that only broadens what he can do.
That doesn’t mean Mitchell can replace what Williams and Wallace bring. The source of those two players, together, is too much for one young guard to fully cover. But the Thunder are trying to survive a stretch where Gilgeous-Alexander is carrying too much already, and that’s where Mitchell’s development becomes such an important storyline.
There’s also the defensive side of the equation. With Williams and Wallace out, Gilgeous-Alexander is likely to pick up more primary defensive assignments. Alex Caruso could be used as a starter when he returns from his ankle injury, but even that would only be a limited answer depending on the matchup.
For now, the Thunder’s best hope is simple: Mitchell keeps playing like this, and Gilgeous-Alexander gets some relief. If that doesn’t happen, Oklahoma City risks asking too much of its star over the regular season. And if that load never lets up, the team’s ceiling could shrink fast.
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