After Chet Holmgren went down with an injury in the Oklahoma City Thunder’s home loss to the Golden State Warriors, OKC is now out of options for the center position with all three big men out with injuries. Jalen Williams, however, has managed to step up well in their absence, providing OKC with a needed spark to stay on the winning track.

OKC has been heavily criticized in the last two years for lacking size and strength in rebounding. In 2022-23, OKC relied on Jaylin Williams to be its main center for most of the season as Chet Holmgren was out with a Lisfranc injury, and the Thunder finished 40-42 after two seasons of missing out on the Play-In Tournament.

The Thunder would go on to have Holmgren back in the previous season, where they improved to 57-25 but went down 4-2 in the West Semis. The team added Isaiah Hartenstein in the offseason but was out with an injury of his own, as well as Williams. Now that Holmgren is expected to be out for two months, it seems that Jalen Williams will have to run the center show for now.

Filling the Gap

Jalen Williams was inserted to the center position in their home game against the Los Angeles Clippers. At first, the Thunder looked ridiculous for having a 6-foot-5 forward to fill in the position, but it turned out for the best for OKC as they went on to defeat the Clippers, 134-128. In the win, Williams scored 28 points, eight rebounds, and six assists – including the game-sealing dunk that iced the game with 1.4 seconds left to play.

The next game? J-Dub would go on to post 31 points, 7 assists, 6 rebounds, 4 steals, and 2 blocks in a 106-88 win against the New Orleans Pelicans. He even had a promising sequence when he blocked two shots in the same possession and later had multiple highlight reels. As of the time of writing, OKC is now 2-0 when Williams starts as center.

However, the next set of games for Oklahoma City will prove to be challenging with the coming teams having a lot of anchoring big men to enforce their way in the paint. Considering how OKC has practiced small ball for most of the early games, fans can expect the Thunder to have some good strides in their next set of games.

Missing Centers

All three of OKC’s centers are out with an injury. Hartenstein suffered a left-hand fracture in their preseason game against the Denver Nuggets, while Jaylin Williams took a hit in his hamstring way back in training camp. Holmgren recently was ruled out with a pelvic fracture and even had to be helped out off the court.

Of all three centers, it is expected that Hartenstein may be the first to return as he is just slated to miss out on the first month of action. Williams, on the other hand, is still far from returning to action and has not seen on-court workouts compared to Hartenstein.

Holmgren, however, is expected to miss at least two months and could be slated for a 2025 return to the lineup. He sustained a right iliac wing fracture and will be able to return this season. Missing him for the whole campaign could have been a disastrous look for OKC’s budding season with the team still sitting atop the Western Conference.