Jalen Williams, Thunder’s recent struggles phase or signs of fundamental concerns?

For the All-Star Jalen Williams and the Oklahoma City Thunderadjusting to the new normal is the underlying theme for the 2025-26 season. Williams preached patience after his long-awaited season debut. Knowing that two right wrist surgeries and a 19-game absence were just the beginning of the most challenging campaign of his career, he knew he wouldn’t immediately return to last year’s All-Star production, but could this — more or less — be the Jaylen we’ve seen all year?

Williams is averaging 17.2 points on 46.3% shooting, including 31.3% from deep, 5.4 assists, 5.1 rebounds and 1.5 steals in 18 games, numbers that are nearly identical to last year, without a dip in scoring. When teams are forced to limit Williams’ offense, the All-Star forward has struggled to get to his spots, which was undoubtedly the case in The Thunder’s 124-97 loss to the Charlotte Hornets.

The Thunder, amid critical acclaim for a near-perfect start to the season, received the best haymakers of any opponent as the defending champions. The turnaround from an underdog team that shocked the league in its first championship season compared to recent NBA dynasties in the Golden State Warriors and Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls did not sit well with the rest of the league. Maybe it was too soon.

But the way coach Marc Daigneault and the Thunder dominated, outscoring opponents by an absurd 17.4 points during a 24-1 start, made it easy to understand the excitement surrounding reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder. Phoenix Suns All-Star Devin Booker handed Oklahoma City its sixth and seventh losses of the season on a three-game winning streak in one night.

Then, they failed to show up against the Hornets for the second night of back-to-back games. Williams finished with 16 points on 6-of-14 shooting against Charlotte. Still, Williams’ efficient scoring is just one of many aspects that make him so valuable to the Thunder. He’s still defending at a high level, rebounding is on par with what we saw in his breakout season last year, while the law of averages suggests his shooting should return to form.

For Marc Daigneault, Jalen Williams’ scoring is not a long-term concern this season.

“I think he’s got a long job with a guy like that, at this point, as a young player, he’s played a lot of games. And we’ve seen him in a lot of situations – he’s got a long working relationship with this team.” Daigneault said. “We’re really not going to overreact to a certain amount of time. I think he’s still working his way back. He’s healthy, but he’s still going through some new normal as far as his wrist. And he’s doing a good job with it.”

“He’s getting lost in the team. He’s competing. He’s still making an impact and he’s just going to get more rhythm. He’s just going to get more comfortable and confident in his physical ability to do what he needs to do as time goes on. He’s off to a good start. He’s prioritizing the right things. That’s really what we figured.”

Marc Daigneault’s honest take on Jalen Williams’ first 12 games of the season: “We’re really not going to overreact to a certain period of time.

Still working backwards. He’s healthy, but he’s still going through a new normal for his wrist. He does a good job with it.” pic.twitter.com/PV0gK2H3I7

— Joshua Pavon (@joe_svai) December 28, 2025

Mark Daigneault reacts to the Thunder’s Jalen Williams misses

Just three weeks ago, Jaylen Williams was talking about the Thunder potentially beating the Warriors’ 73-9 regular season record for the best in NBA history. Since then, coach Marc Daigneault and the Thunder have lost half a dozen games, with the San Antonio Spurs responsible for three of those losses. The defending champions were also outplayed by the Timberwolves, Suns and lowly Hornets.

In many ways, the Thunder’s latest loss came down to effort, as the Hornets outrebounded OKC, 52-33. The shots didn’t fall for the second night in back-to-back games, Oklahoma City’s defense couldn’t stop the bleeding, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander took 21 shots and scored 21 points. Now, a team that sprinted to 25 wins in 27 tries looks moribund as the rest of the NBA takes note of how to beat the Thunder.

It starts with limiting SGA and the Thunder’s core, controlling the tempo, a consistent mix of 3-point and paint shots, and effort. The Hornets made 19 of 37 from three (51%). Chet Holmgren and Williams combined for 31 points on 11-of-25 shooting.

“We’re always just going to judge performance out of context,” Daigneault said after Monday’s loss. “We want to be a high-contest team. We want to be a well-rounded team, and we want to be a really good execution team. And when you have a game like that, you usually call it short in those areas.”

The monotony of an 82-game regular season breeds complacency at times for the defending champions, but this is different: The Thunder went from beating the Warriors 73-9 to a 31-point deficit against a 13-23 Hornets team, losing back-to-back games.

“There are times in the NBA season when the wind is in your face and there are times when the wind is at your back for different reasons,” Daigneault said. “And when the wind’s at your back, you’ve got to stay grounded and humble, and keep it in context, and just keep getting better in games. We had the wind at our back, obviously, earlier in the season, and then when the wind’s in your face, you’ve got to hang on.

“And you have to have the resilience and the toughness to keep competing, to keep staying together, to keep focusing on the controllable things that help you change course. So that’s what we’re going to do. That’s what we’ve always done, and that’s what we’re going to do in this situation.”

The Thunder will host the Jazz at the Paicom Center on Wednesday.