The number one thing the Oklahoma City Thunder didn't need on Monday night was having another player suffer an injury. Unfortunately, that's exactly what happened during the contest versus the Phoenix Suns. Heading into Monday night's game, the Thunder were already without star forward Jalen Williams after he dislocated his left ankle and fractured his fibula on Sunday night.
Williams will undergo surgery and could potentially miss the rest of the 2026-27 season. Additionally, guard Cason Wallace suffered a torn labrum in his left shoulder. He will also undergo surgery and could possibly miss the rest of the season.
On top of those big absences, Chet Holmgren was ruled out of Monday's game with right patellar tendinitis. It's unknown how long Holmgren is expected to be out. There's a good chance he's just managing this injury concern as the Thunder played back-to-back games on Sunday and Monday.
To top it all off, OKC guard Alex Caruso left Monday's game early with a right ankle sprain. The injury occurred when Suns forward Dillon Brooks fell onto him. Caruso limbed to the locker room, and then he was ruled out for the remainder of the contest.
Needless to say, the Thunder cannot catch a break from the injury bug right now, and we're only four games into the season. Caruso has the best numbers coming off the bench on the Thunder so far this season as he averages 9.3 points, 5.7 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game. He put up nine points, two rebounds and three assists in the nine minutes he played on Monday night before getting injured.
The Thunder will need to readjust their starting lineup moving forward to adapt to all of these injuries coming down. On Monday, Oklahoma City started Ajay Mitchell and Jared McCain in place of Williams and Wallace. Kenrich Williams played in place of Holmgren, too.
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