Thunder receive crushing injury news on beloved big ahead of Spurs game

The OKC Thunder have been severely limited with their frontcourt options during these early stages of the 2024-25 campaign due to the slew of injuries that ravaged this part of the rotation during the offseason and preseason.

From Kenrich Williams' right knee surgery to Isaiah Hartenstein's left hand fracture, over the past few months Oklahoma City has seen several of their core players receive chomps from the injury bug.

While the majority of these talents seem to be progressing well with their rehabilitation, with Williams even participating in on-court activities with the OKC Blue on Wednesday, ahead of their upcoming bout against the San Antonio Spurs news broke that one beloved member of the organization had an agonizing setback in his recovery.

Thunder big Jaylin Williams irritated hamstring, pushing back return

During a team workout on Tuesday, third-year center Jaylin Williams irritated his right hamstring strain. Per the Thunder, he will be re-evaluated in four-to-six weeks, which, in turn, pushes his return date even farther back than it already has been.

Originally, the 22-year-old sustained the leg ailment back in early October. Though initially not considered all that serious, the injury was projected to leave him sidelined for the entirety of preseason play.

As of October 30, not only did this turn out to be the case, but it has also extended well into these infancy stages of the regular season and, following Wednesday's news, his absence could linger through early-to-mid December.

Hamstring strains are generally one of the more complex injuries athletes can deal with, for, though they may not have the dauntingly dramatic allure than ACL and Achilles injuries do, they can be extremely painful when injured and, even after ample recovery time, still run the risk of flaring up if slightly tweaked.

The sprinting, jumping, and sudden stopping and starting motions that the game of basketball requires from its players are never friendly to such an ailment, and, unfortunately, the big man found this out the hard way following Tuesday's session.

In Williams' absence, guys like Ousmane Dieng, for example, have seen an uptick in playing time and, in turn, he's sporting career-highs in points (5.7), rebounds (3.3), and offensive and defensive rating (109 and 93, respectively).

Until J-Dub makes his way back into the fold, coach Mark Daigneault will continue to rely on Dieng, as well as the soon-to-be returning Hartenstein as secondary big man options behind star Chet Holmgren.

Jaylin Williams has spent the entirety of his three-year career with the Thunder as a consistent rotation player and boasts averages of 4.8 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 1.6 assists in 118 career games.