Nov 17, 2025; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard/forward Jalen Williams (8) poses for a picture after the game against the New Orleans Pelicans at Smoothie King Center. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn ImagesClemente Almanza, OKC Thunder WireMon, November 24, 2025 at 8:01 PM UTC·4 min readAs the Oklahoma City Thunder continue to dominate the rest of the NBA with a near-impeccable 17-1 record and an all-time point differential, Jalen Williams has remained on the sidelines.
Continuing to pay the price for NBA immortality, Williams has been out for the first 18 regular-season games of the season. He gutted through OKC's playoff run to an NBA championship with torn wrist ligaments. After celebrating with the Larry O'Brien trophy, he underwent surgery in July.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementWilliams later underwent a second procedure on Halloween. It removed a screw that irritated him in the final stages of his return-to-play plan. The small setback has knocked him out of contention for All-NBA honors and NBA awards — or has it?
Like Lee Corso would say, 'Not so fast, my friend.' There's still one pathway left for Williams to earn accolades this season, which would result in a larger payday.
The NBA implemented a 65-game minimum for players to qualify for awards. It started in the 2023-24 regular season. The goal was to discourage NBA superstars from sitting out games and reward players who were mostly available throughout the year.
As the Thunder played their 18th game of the 2025-26 regular season in a 122-95 win over the Portland Trail Blazers, most thought that meant Williams would be ineligible the rest of the way. OKC only has 64 more regular-season games left. That would have massive ramifications related to their future payroll.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementWilliams signed a five-year, up-to $287 million contract extension this past offseason. One of the escalators would be if Williams made an All-NBA team. If he makes an All-NBA team this season, his extension would balloon past the 25% cap space floor for the 2026-27 season. If he makes the All-NBA First Team — which is a more pie-in-the-sky scenario at this point — it'd boost to a maximized 30% of the cap space.
For an All-NBA Second Team, that number would grow from 25% to 27%. For an All-NBA Third Team — which he made last season — that number would grow from 25% to 26%.
In a sick twist of fate, the NBA's rules put Williams in a tough spot. Williams' breakout season last year was all for naught from a salary standpoint. The timing of when a young player first makes an All-NBA team is prioritized too highly under the current CBA. It weirdly punishes players for breaking out too early. But let me get off the soapbox
Now, all that said, let's get to the meat of this hypothetical. You probably saw all over your social media feed that Williams will no longer be eligible for an additional $48 million being triggered in his upcoming contract extension. That dream is not officially dead yet.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementIn comes the 2025 NBA Cup finals.
The secretive 83rd game of a regular season that doesn't count towards the standings or stats could serve as a lifeboat for Williams. If the Thunder made it all the way to the Las Vegas championship game, that would count as a 65th game for the 24-year-old — if he doesn't miss a game for the rest of the regular season and plays the requisite minutes, per the NBA rulebook.
With a week to go, the Thunder sit atop the 2025 NBA Cup West Group A standings. They're at 2-0 with a plus-63 point differential. If they take care of business at home against the Minnesota Timberwolves and Phoenix Suns in these next two games, they'll advance to the eight-team knockout stage of the in-season tournament.
Forecasting a little bit in the future, not far-fetched to think the Thunder can repeat last year's success of going to Las Vegas in December. And at that point, they'd be the heavy favorite to cross off one of the last remaining bucket list items this group has yet to accomplish with an NBA Cup championship win.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementWe'll see when Williams returns. He continues to recover from his wrist surgery. But for at least the next couple of days, there's a non-zero chance he can return, go on an Iron Man streak the rest of the way and rack up a lot more money and trophies.
This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: How Jalen Williams can still qualify for All-NBA nod, NBA awards
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