No Shai, No Chet, No J-Dub: What OKC's 0-2 Preseason Week Actually Revealed

The Oklahoma City Thunder dropped both of their preseason games this week, and the scoreboard was the least interesting thing about it. On Tuesday they fell 116-110 to New Orleans, and on Wednesday they lost 128-126 to Milwaukee. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams never took the floor for the opener, and nearly half the roster was unavailable. That's not a crisis — it's a controlled experiment, and it produced real information.

The context worth remembering

This is a team that went 64-18 last season, the best record in the league, with a +10.53 average margin. It's also a team whose season ended at the hands of San Antonio in the Western Conference Finals, after the Spurs won six of the ten meetings between the two. So the stakes for 2026-27 are not subtle. Oklahoma City opens the new campaign as the co-favorite to win the title at +260, tied with the very team that sent them home.

What the depth actually showed

With the stars parked, the young guys got a genuine audition, and two rookies took it seriously.

Bennett Stirtz led a shorthanded Thunder group with a team-high 15 points in the opener. Aday Mara, the 12th overall pick, followed with a strong debut the next night, leading Oklahoma City against the Bucks — no small thing, considering Milwaukee got 19 points in 22 minutes from Myles Turner and a clutch closing stretch from Brayden Burries.

That matters because the roster question hasn't been fully answered. The Thunder still have one spot to fill, and the two-way pieces behind the rotation are being evaluated in real time. Add in the fact that Jaylin Williams, Cason Wallace and Isaiah Joe are already baked into the injury ledger, and the front office's patience looks less like indecision and more like leverage.

The real story is the guy who didn't play

The most important Thunder development of the week isn't a preseason result — it's that Jalen Williams is healthy for the first time in two years. Wrist surgeries delayed his 2025-26 start, then hamstring injuries on both legs eventually ended his season in the playoffs. He still averaged 17.1 points, 5.5 assists and 4.6 rebounds when he was on the floor, and his absence is the single biggest reason last year's postseason ended early.

Gilgeous-Alexander didn't mince words about it, essentially firing a warning shot at the rest of the league about what a healthy Williams means. That's the swing factor. SGA himself remains the engine — 31.1 points, 6.6 assists and 4.3 rebounds per game while winning a second straight MVP, with his MVP odds sitting at +350 — but Holmgren (17.1 points, 8.9 rebounds, 1.96 blocks) and Williams are what separate this team from the pack.

The number that tells the story

Oklahoma City's neutral-floor power rating sits third this week at 8.055, down a steep 3.495 points from last week and well below its 12.748 prior-season mark. Of that, 2.64 points is already docked for the absences of Jaylin Williams, Cason Wallace and Isaiah Joe. The model also rates the Thunder roughly 4.4 points below how the market is pricing them — a gap that says the public and the books are valuing the healthy version of this roster, not the current one.

In plain terms: everything hinges on the medical report. A functional rotation keeps Oklahoma City at the top of the West. A repeat of last season's attrition invites exactly the kind of six-of-ten problem the Spurs present.

What's next

The preseason continues with a road trip to Atlanta on Oct. 12, a home date with Indiana on Oct. 13, and a visit to Houston on Oct. 15. Then the games start counting — and the Thunder open Oct. 20 in San Antonio, with the home opener against Denver two nights later.

Two preseason losses in four days won't be remembered. Whether Williams is on the floor in San Antonio will be.