Jalen Williams undergoes wrist surgery, be re-evaluated in 12 weeks
Williams sustained the injury in the Thunder's April 9 win over the Phoenix Suns. They understood that he eventually needed to get surgery after the regular season ended. That meant he played the entire 2025 NBA playoffs with a bum wrist.
It was pretty obvious Williams played through something, despite downplaying it. He'd wrap his wrist for every game and could be spotted holding it in pain throughout the two months of the playoffs.
Despite that, Williams stepped up as OKC's second-best player in a championship run. He averaged 21.4 points on 44.9% shooting, 5.5 rebounds and 4.8 assists in 23 playoff games. A 40-point Game 5 explosion in the NBA Finals was his masterpiece performance.
Now, Williams will get a chance to recover. He posted his hand cast on social media, with his ring finger sticking out. Three months from now is September, which should give him time to return by the start of the 2025-26 regular season, like Presti said.
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The deeper Topic plays in the Summer League, the more comfortable he's looked. This was the best he's looked as a playmaker. Some daring passes resulted in buckets for his teammates. He was also sharp in his textbook reads, as his teammates learned to get open from the outside to be fed the ball. The 19-year-old needed some time to knock off any rustiness from a torn ACL. That was clear through his three Utah Summer League games. Now you're seeing what he looks like when he gains steam. The Thunder offense caught fire once he was in the driver's seat. If you're the Thunder, you have to like what you've seen from Topic. He looks capable of running the second-unit offense when needed. He could bring an element as a creative and talented passer that the NBA champion lacked last season. Ajay Mitchell: B Having had enough of the zero next to OKC on the scoreboard, Mitchell found his way to the basket and drew an and-one layup. The Thunder desperately needed to see a shot go in. The 23-year-old helped with that. After that, the points came in a flurry. Mitchell finished with 13 points on 4-of-11 shooting, seven assists and six rebounds. He shot 1-of-4 from 3 and went 4-of-6 on free throws. He also had a steal. This was a laid-back performance by Mitchell. With everybody else doing a little bit of everything, he didn't feel the need to step up as the top scorer. Instead, the 23-year-old went with the flow and facilitated more in this game than in previous Summer League outings. Mitchell continued to drive to the basket and get to the free-throw line. That's been a theme all Summer League. Let's see how translatable that is in the NBA, but that could provide a scoring boost for the backup guard in his second season. Brooks Barnhizer: A-plus After Jones had some words to say to Barnhizer, the latter's teammate had to calm him down. Ty Brewer had a funny method by telling the Thunder's two-way player that "he's trash" and not worth his time. The de-escalation shows the energy the 23-year-old brings to the court. Barnhizer finished with 17 points on 8-of-10 shooting, five rebounds and two assists. He shot 1-of-2 from 3. He also had six steals and one block. Described as a defense-first player, Barnhizer has lived up to his Northwestern reputation. He caused havoc for the Pacers in their passing lanes with six steals. That was two shy of a Las Vegas Summer League record. He's racked up the steals throughout the event. What wasn't talked about enough was his savvy off-ball decisions. Barnhizer might not have a reliable jumper, but he can read the half-court defense and make the right reads. He was gifted an easy layup by Topic when he cut to the basket in an open lane. That's how you can carve out an NBA career. Barnhizer's endless energy on both ends of the floor has produced tangible results. The 23-year-old has been a plus-minus darling. He plays winning basketball and thrives in his role. He knows his bread and butter and sticks to it. Chris Youngblood: A-plus Running to his spot, Youngblood knocked down another outside jumper. His quick release makes him an easy player to kick out to when needed. The Summer League percentages have also shown that. The 23-year-old continues to be OKC's best undrafted rookie. Youngblood finished with 21 points on 7-of-12 shooting, three assists and two rebounds. He shot 5-of-8 from 3 and went 2-of-3 on free throws. He also had a steal. Among all the new faces, Youngblood has been a standout. You always enter the Summer League with the hopes that some of the undrafted players pop off the screen for the right reasons. He's done that as an outside threat. That will always be a hot commodity searched for from across the league. With an open two-way spot, Youngblood seems to be a prime candidate to grab it. He's taken advantage of two starts in Las Vegas by being a catch-and-shoot option. At the very least, he's garnered interest from other NBA teams that could look for outside shooting. Malevy Leons: A-minus Let's throw in the rare fifth grade. All of the Thunder starters deserve it after they blew out the Pacers. Leons had one of his best Summer League outings. It was highlighted when he threw down a loud dunk after Mitchell passed it over his head for the easy bucket. Leons finished with 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting, 10 rebounds and two assists. He shot 1-of-1 from 3 and 1-of-1 on free throws. He also had two steals. Besides the Thunder's three best players, Leons has been a fixture in the Summer League starting lineup. The double-double proved to be one of his two best games. He was busy inside the paint and even knocked down an outside jumper. Among players fighting for the last two-way contract, Leons has seniority and physical tools on his side. He spent a year on the G League's OKC Blue and Thunder last season. He also has nice size at 6-foot-9. Let's see what he does in these last few games. Highlights:
