Toe Injury Thwarted OKC Thunder Rookie's Rising Stars Bid

The Thunder have one of the league’s best young cores, but one of their best won’t be celebrated this season.

Over the past week, the NBA announced the pool for the Rising Stars game and reserves for the All-Star Game. Unsurprisingly, Oklahoma City was represented in each, with Jalen Williams making his first All-Star appearance and Cason Wallace earning his second Rising Stars bid.

While many have brought up that Chet Holmgren’s injury likely took him out of the All-Star Game this season, another injured player didn’t get the opportunity to showcase their skills in San Francisco. Ajay Mitchell has been out since Jan. 3 with a great right toe sprain, which he had to undergo surgery to fix. Still out for extended time, Mitchell was having a fantastic start to his career.

This season, Mitchell has averaged 6.4 points, two rebounds and 1.7 assists while shooting 50.6% from the floor and 43.1% from 3-point range. Those impressive numbers and his contributions to the Thunder’s elite defense helped him appear on NBA.com’s rookie ladder throughout the beginning of the season.

While Mitchell’s injury made it difficult for him to make the roster, it didn’t technically exclude him. The Rising Stars pool featured three injured players who have since been replaced, but Mitchell’s case wasn’t nearly as strong as the others. Before his injury, Jared McCain was running away with Rookie of the Year, and the other two, Dereck Lively and Brandon Miller, are established players in their second season.

Still, Mitchell likely would have made the team if the pool was announced a month ago, but his case lost all momentum over the past few weeks since his injury. The Thunder have played 12 games in Mitchell’s absence and gone 8-4 in that stretch.

Although that is a solid record, the Thunder have missed Mitchell as another ball handler, particularly when Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is off the floor. Throughout the first 34 games, Mitchell played at least 10 minutes in 27 contests and hit the 20-minute mark nine times. Mitchell also scored in double figures 11 times, including a career-high 17-point performance against the Memphis Grizzlies in the week leading up to his injury.

The Thunder have missed Mitchell and his absence also effectively took him out of Rising Stars contention. But as long as he continues his current trajectory, he should have no issues making it to All-Star Weekend in 2026.

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