The Oklahoma City Thunder, of course, need Jalen Williams back at full strength in 2026-27 if they want to have any chance of reaching the summit again. His abilities on both ends of the floor are just too important to this team's viability to see it any other way.
From a simple glance at the box score, it may seem as though his highly-anticipated return from the hamstring injuries that ended his season in 2025-26 was disappointing in that regard. After all, he finished with just 12 points, knocking down five of his 16 shots from the field and taking only two 3-point attempts on the night. He missed multiple easy mid-range shots, and he looked, at times, to still be discombobulated on the offensive end.
But Williams and Oklahoma City have plenty of time to get this thing figured out, and with his defensive performance and pure confidence in his shooting abilities, Williams accomplished what he needed to in the season opener against the San Antonio Spurs.
Plus, as a bonus, the Thunder got the win.
Jalen Williams' early-season performance is simply about getting his two-way mojo back
If this team has any shot of working its way back to the NBA Finals, it's going to need Williams operating in a star capacity. He didn't do that on Tuesday night against the Spurs, at least not on the offensive end.
There were multiple encouraging signs, though, over the course of the game.
Williams was ridiculously active on defense early in the matchup, posting three defensive rebounds and a block in just six first-quarter minutes. He was also a real weapon in stifling San Antonio's dynamic three-guard lineup, which doesn't necessarily contain a player that's a no-brainer defensive assignment for a forward of Williams' capabilities. The combination of Castle, Harper, and Fox went for just 11 of the Spurs' 28 first quarter points, and they finished with just 14 in the first half. That's an even bigger development when you consider the fact that Victor Wembanyama did not make a single field goal in the entire first half.
He also, encouragingly, didn't seem shy about getting to his mid-range shot. He was consistently getting solid looks over the course of the game, taking on whoever he was matched up against offensively with relative ease and using his handle to work his way to his spots above the free-throw line and at the elbow. They didn't all go in, obviously, but the confidence of being able to operate as a secondary offensive engine for this team is more important, early on, than high scoring totals for Williams.
It's not all good, though. His lack of a perimeter shots should be a concern, as Williams' volume from beyond the arc dropped precipitously last season (from 4.9 attempts per game in 2024-25 to 2.3 in 2025-26), and the Thunder need the extra dose of consistent floor spacing he provides in order to keep their starting five fully viable. That may be a lingering effect of his wrist injury, or it may simply be the way the game played out on Tuesday night.
Either way, though, these early portions of the season shouldn't necessarily be focused on production for Williams. After a season that was completely derailed by injuries, Oklahoma City simply needs him to regain his confidence on both ends of the court. That came on the defensive end against San Antonio.
We can afford to be patient with the offensive side of things.
Add us as a preferred source on Google