Sam Presti built his preseason case the same way he always does: with optimism, talent, and a warning label.
The Thunder general manager looked at a roster loaded with promise and said the team could be special, but he kept circling back to the same condition. Health. Everything depended on health.
“I really do feel that by season's end,” he said, “we could have a really exceptional basketball team if we stay healthy.”
Then he doubled down.
“This particular group of players, if we stay healthy, if it has time together, it has a chance to be as good if not better than any of the teams we've had.”
And again:
“If we're healthy, I think the minutes will figure themselves out.”
That was the catch.
The Thunder didn’t even get a week before the injury situation turned into a full-blown disaster. Jalen Williams and Cason Wallace are likely out for the season.
Chet Holmgren won’t be back until almost Christmas. Several other players have already landed on the injury report, and the list of absences is starting to feel alarmingly close to the list of available bodies.
In a league where injuries are already spreading everywhere, Oklahoma City has taken the hardest hit. No other team has been punched this hard.
The nightmare really started in the game against the Clippers, a night that felt like the floor dropped out from under Paycom Center. Wallace went down first after running into an illegal screen that wasn’t dirty, just the kind of play that turns ugly in an instant. His left shoulder took the brunt of it, and the result was a torn labrum.
Later in that same game, Williams got hurt too. Kris Dunn was upgraded to a flagrant 1 for the play, and he shouldn’t have hit Dub from behind while he was in the air. But the injury itself - a fractured leg and dislocated ankle - was the kind of ugly, unlucky break that can make a team feel haunted.
Losing one starter like that would have been brutal. Losing two in the same game is the sort of thing that makes people start asking questions they normally wouldn’t ask.
And then there’s the court itself. Both injuries happened on the same end of the Paycom Center floor where Russell Westbrook’s knee was busted and Holmgren’s hip was cracked and Otega Oweh’s Achilles was ruptured in practically the same spot where Tyrese Haliburton’s Achilles popped during the 2025 NBA Finals. At some point, you stop calling it coincidence and start wondering whether somebody needs to dig up whatever’s buried under that basket.
As if that wasn’t enough, Holmgren was lost almost a week later after it was learned he needed a biological treatment for a small patellar tendon tear in his right knee. The damage from that Clippers game kept spreading.
So yes, the Thunder are still standing. They still have the reigning MVP, and they still have enough talent to beat a decent chunk of the West. But this team was built to chase something bigger than that.
Instead, the season has opened with three of its best young defenders sidelined, all of them All-Defense over the past two seasons, and all of them major losses in every sense.
Presti knew injuries could shape a season. He just couldn’t have expected this kind of wreckage this early, hitting this many top-end players all at once.
No, he’s not a prophet of doom.
But doom has shown up anyway.
In Other News...
Former Sixer Dalen Terry Just Landed An Intriguing New Chance
Dalen Terrys latest stop gives him another shot to stick in the NBA, and it comes at a time when Oklahoma City can use the help. The former first-round pick was waived by the Warriors after training camp, then left Golden States G League affiliate to join the Thunder, who had an open roster spot and a clear need for wing depth.
For Oklahoma City, the move is as much about covering ground as it is about upside. The Thunder are navigating multiple long-term injuries, so adding another athletic perimeter option makes sense even if the arrangement is expected to be a modest one. Terry now gets a chance to compete for a role in a situation where opportunity is available, and the Thunder get a low-risk look at a player with some pedigree still attached to his name. [Read more 🡒]
Thunder Title Hopes Suddenly Hinge On Two Massive Unknowns
Jalen Williams injury has changed the feel around Oklahoma Citys title chase, because a team built to contend now has to navigate the stretch run without one of its most important pieces. NBA insider Zach Lowe has said Williams could still make it back this season, but the practical expectation around the league is that the Thunder are preparing for a long absence while still leaving the door open for a late return if the team or player never shuts it.
That uncertainty is landing at the same time Oklahoma City is trying to fortify the roster elsewhere. The Thunder signed Dalen Terry and are expected to keep working the trade market before the deadline, with the front office likely looking for salary-based moves to add depth without touching Williams. For a team with championship aspirations, the next few weeks may be less about one injured star than about how aggressively the Thunder choose to patch the holes around him. [Read more 🡒]
Thunder Fill Final Roster Spot As Rotation Pressure Suddenly Grows
Oklahoma City is using its final roster spot on wing depth, with reports saying the Thunder are signing Dalen Terry to a two-year deal. Terry, who has spent time with the Bulls and 76ers, gives the defending group another versatile defender at a moment when the margin for error has shrunk, even if the team has not officially announced the move yet.
The timing matters because the Thunder are suddenly navigating a stretch without several key rotation pieces, and that has opened the door for a player like Terry to matter sooner than expected. His fit is straightforward on paper, defense, length and energy, but the bigger question is how much responsibility he can absorb if Oklahoma City needs him to play real minutes while the roster gets healthy again. [Read more 🡒]