It goes without saying that since Jalen Williams made his return to the OKC Thunder lineup following a multi-month injury-induced rehab process, his production and overall impact have fallen rather short of expectations.
Leading into his debut outing against the Phoenix Suns on November 28, Oklahoma City sported a ridiculous 18-1 record and was seemingly on a fast track to breaking the league's single-season wins mark.
Now, 19 games into his 2025-26 campaign, the Thunder have gone a still solid, albeit far less inspiring 13-6, with Williams ranking just eighth on the team in net rating (8.8) and seventh-worst in offensive rating (114.1).
Considering he earned All-NBA honors just a season ago, it's rather surprising to see the forward having an impact on the defending champs that's as mediocre as it's been, but ESPN's Tim MacMahon believes these hardships aren't destined to linger all season.
"Jalen Williams, their number two guy offensively, is learning how to shoot jump shots again with a surgically repaired wrist. He's regaining his feel. This is going to be a process. The guy had major surgery on his shooting wrist. He also had 40 points when that wrist needed to be surgically repaired in a pivotal Finals Game 5. If you're down on Jalen Williams after a dozen games I don't know what to tell you about basketball," MacMahon said.
Thunder star still not back to full strength -- and that's ok
As MacMahon alluded to, Williams had surgery on his shooting wrist to repair a torn scapholunate ligament.
Though the operation was ultimately successful, the recovery process was long and arduous, with J-Dub once comparing the feeling of using his wrist to putting Laffy Taffy in the freezer and then "trying to bend it."
It took roughly four full months to pass by before the 24-year-old was even able to shoot with his right hand again.
With this in mind, it should come as no surprise that it will likely take more than six weeks for him to get back to full form.
Fortunately, even amid his wonky shooting slump (46.0 percent from the floor and 30.2 percent from deep), Williams is still posting impressive, all-around per-game averages of 17.2 points, 5.5 assists, 5.0 rebounds, and 1.4 steals.
On top of this, he's been rather efficient down the stretch over these past few games, as he's ranked second on the team behind only big man Chet Holmgren both in fourth-quarter and clutch-time field goal percentage.
With every passing day, Williams should be expected to grow more and more comfortable with his game.
Fortunately, the mid-season All-Star break is only a few weeks away, which should only help further expedite his path back to 100 percent strength just in time for what is hoped to be a strong second half of the campaign for the team and a second straight championship run.