Thunder sharpshooter gets injury return timetable after knee surgery
09/17/2024 11:05 AM
The Oklahoma City Thunder were one of the best teams in the league during the 2023-24 season. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander emerged as a true MVP candidate, and the Thunder showed a glimpse of their full potential with young, rising stars like Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams. This team has depth, and they are continuing to grow, which is why many are picking Oklahoma City to win the Western Conference during the 2024-25 season. However, their depth took a hit ahead of training camp on Tuesday when the team announced veteran wing Kenrich Williams underwent knee surgery.
Williams, 29, has been a steady presence on the Thunder’s bench through the years and is one of the more experienced leaders in the locker room. He will now be sidelined indefinitely through training camp and the NBA preseason after undergoing a successful arthroscopic debridement procedure in his right knee.
While no exact timeline for his recovery has been revealed by the team, it is said that Williams will be re-evaluated after the preseason, meaning his status for the start of the 2024-25 season could be in jeopardy.
In a total of 69 games last season, the most appearances he’s made in a single season, Williams averaged 4.7 points and 3.0 rebounds per game while shooting 46.8 percent from the floor and 39.7 percent from three-point range. Despite not being known for being an elite-level scorer, Williams is a very dependable wing, and plays his role to perfection. He can be a secondary playmaker, a spot-up shooter, and most importantly, someone the Thunder can rely on defensively.
Without Williams in the fold entering the preseason, opportunities will be had for Aaron Wiggins, Ousmane Dieng, and rookie first-round pick Dillon Jones.
Much like Williams, Wiggins is a versatile wing that the Thunder really like. The 25-year-old can guard numerous positions, and he shot 49.2 percent from three-point range in 78 total games last season. This offseason, Wiggins agreed to stay in Oklahoma City on a five-year, $45 million contract.
Dieng, on the other hand, is still a work-in-progress after being drafted 11th overall in 2022. The French forward did not see much playing time last season, and he now enters a critical third year in Oklahoma City, a season in which he must prove his value to retain his roster spot moving forward.
Jones, who many projected to be a second-round pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, is a player the Thunder are exceptionally high on. At Weber State, Jones displayed his repertoire of talents and proved that he can be another plug-and-play guy for this franchise like Williams and Wiggins. While he struggled to assert himself during NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, Jones could wind up seeing minutes early on in his career, especially if Williams misses the start of the regular season.
Further details on Williams’ status and the possibility of him being ready for the Thunder’s first game against the Denver Nuggets on October 24 will be revealed by the team at a later time.
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