OKC Thunder All-NBA Swingman To Return vs. Suns

The Oklahoma City Thunder see Jalen Williams return to the lineup on Friday against the Phoenix Suns to conclude NBA Cup pool play and make his season debut following offseason wrist surgery.

Oct 21, 2025; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Jalen Williams carries the Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy during the ring ceremony before the start of a their game against the Houston Rockets during the first half at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images | Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

The Oklahoma City Thunder got some great news on Thursday as the team is finally able to add All-NBA Swingman Jalen Williams back into the fold.

The Santa Clara product suffered a wrist injury in April during his final regular season contest of the year against the Phoenix Suns. After playing on torn ligaments in his wrist the entire postseason, Williams has been rehabbing from offseason wrist surgery to repair his wrist. At the end of October, Williams under went another procedure to take screws out of his wrist that was causing discomfort.

Since then, his timeline has been completely up in the air but his work to rehab from his injury has been relentless as Mark Daigneault pointed out before Wednesday's game against the Timberwolves.

“Day to day and is doing a great job," Daigneault said before the Timberwolves game. "There’s so much invisible work that goes into a return to play that you guys don't get the opportunity to see and we don't even get the opportunities."

The work happens in the shadows and early morning hours, before even Daigneault rolls into the gym and it has led Williams back to the hardwood now.

"I rolled in this morning getting ready for our staff meeting, and I was walking to the back, and he's already there at whatever time it was, 8:15, getting his PT work in. He was on the court by 8:30," Daigneault said on Wednesday. "That’s the work you have to put in day after day without the immediate carrot of playing when you're going through a rehab.”

On Friday, the Oklahoma City Thunder wrap up their Western Conference Group A pool play by hosting the Phoenix Suns, this will mark the season debut of the Thunder All Star swingman after he missed the team's first 19 games. In that span, the Oklahoma City Thunder went 18-1.

As a result of his 19 missed games, Williams is ineligible for postseason awards, forcing him to miss out on the kickers in his contract and keeping his salary cap number at 25% of the cap as opposed to the 30% he was eligible for had he captured any individual honor.

Now, the Oklahoma City Thunder that boast the league's best record, best defensive, best net rating and best roster gets even better.

Stay tuned to Thunder on SI for complete coverage of Jalen Williams' return and the entire season for the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Just in: Thunder All-NBA guard Jalen Williams is off the injury report and will make his season debut against the Phoenix Suns on Friday night in OKC, multiple sources tell ESPN. Williams recovered from wrist surgery after playing through a torn ligament in the 2025 title run. pic.twitter.com/4emDduKKzY

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 27, 2025