Despite the fact that the OKC Thunder endured widespread and long-lasting injury woes, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander still was able to will his team to a league-best 64-18 record, and just one postseason win shy of clinching their second straight NBA Finals berth.
Now, heading into 2026-27, the superstar is stressing that this team should only be better than they were a season ago, specifically highlighting the fact that they'll be getting a crucial part of their core back in the mix right out of the gate: Jalen Williams.
During Monday's media day, SGA spoke glowingly about the impending return of a fully healthy J-Dub, saying, "We'll have an All-NBA talent who puts the ball in the basket and guards one through five."
Though he physically was able to suit up for 33 games last season, throughout their 82-game regular season slate and their three-round playoff run, the Thunder never once rolled out a lineup with a full-strength Williams in the fold.
From nagging after effects stemming from his offseason wrist surgery to numerous hamstring strains in both legs, Williams was a mere shell of his 2024-25 self that earned All-Star, All-NBA, and All-Defensive honors and played a crucial role in OKC bringing home their first NBA Championship.
With less than a month separating now and regular-season tip-off, the hope is that the reigning top seeds will be able to reintroduce their cornerstone forward at 100 percent, which, if successful, would no doubt be the biggest talent addition for any team in the entire league.
Thunder star has been ready to go for quite some time
Considering the number of injuries he endured throughout the 2025-26 season, many may have expected that Williams would take a large chunk of the summer to rest up and recover in order to get back to his full-strength self.
Interestingly enough, however, it appears getting to this point took way quicker than initially believed.
During a sit-down with the folks at 98.1 FM's The Sports Animal, J-Dub opened up about his nagging hamstring strains, specifically shedding light on how tricky it was for him to heal up, noting that "every time I was coming back was like a very big moment."
Whether it was his comeback amid a 3-5 slide in early February or for Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals, each instance mattered enough for him to attempt multiple returns on the earlier end of the recommended four-to-six-week recovery timeline.
Of course, in the end, it seems that all Williams needed was just a bit more time to rest up, as he revealed that he felt "back to pretty close to like 100 percent" roughly a week after the NBA Finals ended.
If this was the case right around a month after his final game played back on April 8, one should feel quite confident in the fact that, now nearly six months removed, he's well past that 100 percent mark and should have no limits right out of the gate this coming campaign.
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