After a short three-month offseason, the Oklahoma City Thunder have rolled the ball slowly to start their preseason action. They will play six games in 12 days from Oct. 5-17 before kicking off the 2025-26 Opening Night when they drop their championship banner and hand out rings.
That’s an abnormally high amount of preseason games. Makes it even tougher when they start with a road back-to-back. Talk about diving into the deep end of the pool. All that considered, it shouldn’t be a shocker to see the Thunder sit out several players both nights.
After the Thunder collected a 135-114 preseason win over the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday at South Carolina, they’re expected to be without several of their top players once again, per their radio broadcast. They will face the Dallas Mavericks on Monday in Fort Worth, TX.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (rest) is out. Jalen Williams (wrist surgery) is out. Chet Holmgren (rest) is out. Lu Dort (rest) is out. Isaiah Hartenstein (rest) is out. Ajay Mitchell (ankle sprain) is out. On top of that, Kenrich Williams (knee surgery) and Thomas Sorber (torn ACL) also remain out.
The only player who will suit up after they sat out against the Hornets is Cason Wallace. He missed the opener for rest. Considering he’s from the Dallas area, it shouldn’t be a surprise to see him play in front of family and friends. Aaron Wiggins did the same against Charlotte with an efficient 23 points.
After that, the Thunder will have a couple of days off before they host the Hornets on Thursday, Oct. 9. It’ll be their first preseason game at OKC’s Paycom Center. Perhaps that’s when they’ll see their starters put in some minutes as a warm-up.
Because the NBA doesn’t have official injury reports during the preseason, that means either Mark Daigneault or the broadcast crew has had to relay availability updates through these first two games. That won’t be needed during the regular season.
This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: Expect several Thunder players to sit out preseason game vs. Mavericks
