Monday's downfall against the Denver Nuggets may not hurt the OKC Thunder from a long-term perspective, but the loss of Jalen Williams very well could.
In the middle stages of the second quarter, the All-Star sustained a hip injury following an awkward collision with Nuggets forward Peyton Watson that shelved him for the rest of the night. Since then, reports have surfaced indicating that the 26-year-old could be in line to miss some time, with it already being announced that he'll be in street clothes for Wednesday's matchup against the Celtics.
While the idea of either one of the club's star cornerstones being made inactive should spark Oklahoma City's widely celebrated "next man up" mentality to come into effect, as witnessed during their 140-127 loss to Denver, without their number two weapon in Williams, this team has proven to struggle mightily on the offensive side of the ball.
Because of this, whether it be a day-to-day or week-to-week recovery period for J-Dub, there are a few players, in particular, that need to start stepping up for the Thunder.
Aaron Wiggins
There's already a case to be made that Aaron Wiggins is the biggest X-factor on this Thunder team, and the recent injury to Jalen Williams could present him with the ultimate test of proving himself worthy of such a label.
As noted already, Oklahoma City's offense was drastically impacted by the loss of J-Dub Monday night, as they went from boasting an elite 146.7 offensive rating with him on the floor to a 118.6 with him sidelined.
Since the start of 2025, Wiggins has been one of Oklahoma City's most effective and reliable scoring weapons, as he's been averaging 14.2 points on 53.3 percent shooting from the floor and 40.6 percent shooting from distance in 33 games while seeing nine games of 19-plus points and two games of 30-plus points along the way.
On top of this, throughout this stretch the Thunder sport an offensive rating of 123.9 with him on the floor (fourth-best on the team) and plummet to 117.2 with him off of it (second-worst).
Moving forward, expect Mark Daigneault to lean on Wiggins' nifty scoring abilities in the wake of Williams' injury.
Alex Caruso
Thunder fans can blame it on injuries all they want, but it's undeniable that Alex Caruso has yet to live up to the expectations that came with him upon being traded to the Sooner State this past offseason.
Of course, this is not to say that he hasn't been a positive contributor within the rotation during his debut season with the club. In fact, he currently ranks fourth on the team in net rating (15.5) and seventh in plus-minus (+5.9) out of those who have logged 30 or more games played.
That said, what's been the most notable struggle for Caruso throughout his first season with the Thunder (outside of injuries, of course) has been his highly inconsistent offensive game.
Through 42 games played, the 3&D wing has proven to be far more reliable in the former category rather than the latter what with his pedestrian 35.3 percent conversion rate from distance (his worst clip since 2021-22) on 3.5 attempts per night.
However, both the eye-test and a little bit of data diving indicate that he's been even less trustworthy than this mark would have one believe, as he was cashing in on a putrid 26.2 percent of his three-point attempts prior to his nearly three-week absence from December 26 to January 14 and has made just six long-range shots over his last five games.
If it weren't for an eight-game stretch from February 7 through February 26 where he shot a blistering 53.6 percent from deep (a stretch they went 7-1 and outscored opponents by nearly 14 points a night, mind you), his shooting percentage on the year would be far more aligned with how he's looked on the floor which, truth be told, is unreliable.
Without Jalen Williams, the Thunder are going to need all the help they can get on both ends of the floor. Without a doubt, Caruso can serve as a sound replacement option on the defensive end. It's time for him to prove he's capable of being one on the offensive end as wel.
Chet Holmgren
Ironically, we find the one who just returned from his own hip injury in Chet Holmgren being called upon to step up in the wake of Jalen Williams going down with one himself.
Considering he was sidelined for roughly three months due to his right iliac wing fracture, it should come as no surprise that the big man has appeared a bit rusty during his 10 games of action, as he's posting averages of just 12.8 points and 7.9 rebounds on 47.0 percent shooting from the floor and 29.4 percent shooting from deep.
Though he has shown flashes of his pre-injury self, such as his 22-point, 17-rebound, 3-block performance against Brooklyn back on February 26, such contests have frequently been followed up by 7-point, 4-rebound efforts like the one he had against the Hawks the following game or a momentum-halting DNP.
Monday was the first time since being medically cleared to return that Holmgren was able to participate in both nights of a back-to-back, so perhaps that's a sign that he's back to full strength.
If this proves to be the case, hopefully, it will result in similar production to that of his 18.2 points, 9.2 rebounds, and 2.9 blocks on 51.9 percent shooting and 40.0 percent shooting from deep pre-injury game self.
Frankly, with or without Williams in the fold for thei upcoming games, during the playoffs the Thunder need this version of Chet Holmgren to unlock their full potential as a team.