Jalen Williams is set for wrist surgery after managing injury through Thunder's title run

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Jalen Williams is planning to have surgery on his right wrist after the Oklahoma City forward tore a ligament before the Thunder started their run to a championship, general manager Sam Presti said Monday.

Williams played in all 23 postseason games in helping the Thunder win their first NBA title since moving to Oklahoma from Seattle 17 years ago. He scored a playoff career-high 40 points in a 120-109 win over Indiana in Game 5 of the NBA Finals. Oklahoma City beat the Pacers in seven games.

The 24-year-old Williams is expected to be ready for next season, Presti said. Williams was inactive for the final two games of the regular season after playing 36 minutes in a 125-112 victory over Phoenix on April 9.

Williams wrote a brace on the wrist on his shooting hand at times during the playoffs and had it taped during games. He shot just 30% from 3-point range in the playoffs, more than 6% off his percentage during the regular season.

“The part that I’m most impressed with is in our modern era, when someone has a poor performance or they’re not playing to their capability in a game and there’s a lot of attention on it, you often see a little birdie make sure that everybody knows that the player is not 100%,” Presti said during his season-ending meeting with reporters. “Never happened with this guy, not one time. He powered through. He showed incredible mental endurance and security in himself.”

A first-time All-Star in his third season after the Thunder drafted him 12th overall out of Santa Clara in 2022, Williams averaged career bests of 21.6 points, 5.3 rebounds and 5.1 assists.