The hits just keep on coming for the Oklahoma City Thunder on the injury front less than two weeks into the NBA season. What was once a title-or-bust campaign, which started with so much promise, highlighted by a season-opening win in San Antonio, has now been derailed. The Thunder will be without All-NBA Jalen Williams and defensive ace Cason Wallace for what many are bracing to be the season; despite the club announcing that both would be re-evaluated before the end of the 2026-27 regular season, the team still has yet to see the season debut of the Thunder's youngsters Thomas Sorber and Nikola Topic.

To make matters worse, the Oklahoma City Thunder announced tonight that the team will be without its All-NBA big man for a window of 8 to 10 weeks. "Chet Holmgren experienced mild discomfort in his right knee on October 25. After a series of consultations with specialists, the determination was to perform a biological treatment today to address a small patellar tendon tear," the team explained in a statement.

This was a "successful [procedure] and Holmgren is expected to make a full recovery and return to play in 8-to-10 weeks," the statement goes on to say.

Defensive ace Alex Caruso is also on the shelf with an ankle sprain, leaving the team devoid of its top four defenders. That brings the count of players sidelined to six and likely thrusts the newly signed Ochai Agbaji into instant playing time in Bricktown.

The Oklahoma City Thunder will have a tough time bouncing back from all these injuries. Despite dealing with poor injury luck the past two seasons, this is something entirely different, with not only more impactful injuries than the team has seen, but all hitting at the same time, on top of being early in the season, more long-term, and with a team that doesn't have as much proven depth in years past.

Oklahoma City will hope to salvage enough wins to stay afloat in the postseason picture before at least getting Holmgren back at which point perhaps this still talented squad led by one of the best players in the world in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, can clinch a top six seed or better in the process.

The Thunder's statement sounds optimistic that the team will swiftly get Holmgren back in that 8-to-10-week window, though that is still a long stint in street clothes. The only silver lining to this is Oklahoma City's frontcourt room, despite the injuries, still features high-level starting big man Isaiah Hartenstein, promising rookie Aday Mara, and key bench big Jaylin Williams to get by.

Up next, the Oklahoma City Thunder will be in a tough spot on Saturday against the Houston Rockets before the team can try to stabilize its season moving forward, coming off a blowout loss in Dallas.