2025-26 was a rough season for OKC Thunder cornerstone Jalen Williams. Due to a combination of offseason wrist surgery recovery and several hamstring strains, the forward was held to a mere 33 games of action and, even when active, produced like a shell of his fully healthy self from just the year prior.
In the end, this proved incredibly unfortunate for the Thunder as a whole, as Williams' lack of availability played a major role in Oklahoma City's ultimate downfall during the Western Conference Finals.
Of course, from an individual standpoint, J-Dub's league-wide reputation took a significant hit during the campaign as well, and has yet to fully recover.
As a result of his injury-induced inactivity, there have been many instances where people have seemingly forgotten just how great a talent Williams is.
The latest example of this came during a recent episode of the Game Theory Podcast, where the forward placed dead last on their list of the top 25 defenders in the NBA heading into the upcoming season.
Thunder star is far ahead of 25-best defender when healthy despite rank
While hosts Sam Vecenie and Bryce Simon were certainly complimentary of Jalen Williams' abilities on the less glamorous side of the ball, going as far as to label him "one of the highest-level switchable defenders in the NBA," in the end, they feel that he took a bit of a step backward last season.
Of course, the whole reason for this is because of the fact that he was never once fully healthy during the year, which, in turn, kept him from going 100 percent on either side of the ball.
When at full strength, Williams has already proven to be well ahead of this rank of 25-best defender in the association. In fact, with his 2025 All-Defensive nod, he was literally voted in as a top-10 defensive talent.
Even to Vecenie, this honor was "rightfully" earned, and the advanced metrics (106.5 defensive rating, 244 total deflections, 12.3 opponent turnovers per game, etc.) coupled with the fact that he literally was tasked with guarding virtually every position, including center, as a traditional wing, only further prove such a stance.
Yet, one season plagued by injuries later, and it seems people have forgotten about just how elite the Thunder star can be.
2026-27 presents J-Dub with the perfect opportunity to remind everyone just how stellar a player he is, especially on the defensive end of the ball.
If he's a full go, Thunder fans can almost guarantee Williams will be much closer to a top-15 spot on a ranking like this than his current standing at 25.
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