Chet Holmgren Out 8 to 10 Weeks With a Patellar Tendon Tear, Up to 31 Thunder Games Without Their All-NBA Big

Photo: Official NBA headshot (cdn.nba.com).

The Oklahoma City Thunder said Friday night that Chet Holmgren had a biological treatment for a small tear in his right patellar tendon and is expected to return in 8 to 10 weeks. That puts his return somewhere between Christmas and the second week of January, and it means 23 to 31 games without him, by our count from the Thunder schedule.

The team said the knee first bothered him on Oct. 25. He missed the next two games while specialists weighed the options. The same release said Cason Wallace had surgery Friday on a torn labrum in his left shoulder and will be re-evaluated before the end of the regular season. Jalen Williams is already out after left ankle surgery.

Three starters, one week

Five games into the season, Oklahoma City is 4-1 and third in the West. Holmgren, Jalen Williams and Wallace all started every game they played, per Basketball-Reference. Now all three are out, and Alex Caruso is listed out with a right ankle sprain for Saturday's game in Houston.

Without Holmgren, the Thunder split two games: a 125-114 home win over Phoenix on Monday and a 120-96 loss in Dallas on Wednesday.

What Holmgren took off the table

Last season Holmgren played 69 games, averaged 17.1 points, 8.9 rebounds and 1.9 blocks on .557 shooting, made the All-Star team and All-NBA Third Team and All-Defensive First Team, and finished second in Defensive Player of the Year voting, per Basketball-Reference.

Oklahoma City ranks fifth in defensive rating (106.2) and 21st in offensive rating (109.9) through five games, per Basketball-Reference.

In his three games this season he averaged 9.3 rebounds and 3.0 blocks in 30.0 minutes. The shot wasn't falling yet (40.7 percent from the field).

The center minutes go to Hartenstein and a 21-year-old

Isaiah Hartenstein has started all five games and is averaging 9.4 points and 9.6 rebounds in 23.8 minutes. Behind him is Aday Mara, 21 years old and 7-foot-2, at 5.6 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.4 blocks in 15.8 minutes, per Basketball-Reference.

Without Holmgren, Hartenstein and Mara are the only true centers, per the roster.

This has happened before

Holmgren played only 32 games in 2024-25 after a pelvic fracture, per Basketball-Reference. Oklahoma City went 68-14 that season, ranked first in defensive rating and won the NBA Finals in seven games over Indiana.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is shooting .459 from the field and 6.8 threes a game at .265 through five, per Basketball-Reference. Ajay Mitchell (18.6 points) and Jared McCain (11.0) are the next two scorers.

The window

The 8-to-10-week timeline covers all four of Oklahoma City's NBA Cup group games (at Memphis on Nov. 6, at the Clippers on Nov. 13, home against New Orleans on Nov. 20 and home against Minnesota on Nov. 25), and a Nov. 10-11 back-to-back in Portland, per the schedule. The short end of the timeline lands on Christmas, when the Thunder play at Minnesota.

Sources

• Oklahoma City Thunder: Thunder Medical Update: Holmgren biological treatment for a small right patellar tendon tear, 8-to-10-week return, discomfort began Oct. 25; Wallace labral surgery, re-evaluation before the end of the regular season.
• AP via NBA.com: Chet Holmgren out 8-10 weeks with patellar tendon tear: about two months out, Williams and Wallace potentially out for the regular season.
• WhyNBA: Saturday NBA injury report, Oct. 31, 2026: missed the last two games, 120-96 loss in Dallas, Caruso out with a right ankle sprain, Jalen Williams out after left ankle surgery.
• Basketball-Reference: Chet Holmgren stats: 2025-26 and 2026-27 per-game lines, games by season, awards.
• Basketball-Reference: 2026-27 Oklahoma City Thunder: 4-1 record, team ratings and the per-game stats for every player on the roster.
• Basketball-Reference: 2026-27 Oklahoma City Thunder schedule: results and the full schedule, including NBA Cup games.
• Basketball-Reference: 2024-25 Oklahoma City Thunder: 68-14 record, first in defensive rating, NBA Finals win over Indiana in seven.

Figures marked "by our count" are the desk's own math from the linked schedule page.