Ajay Mitchell has given the Oklahoma City Thunder a lift in place of an injured starter, turning a temporary opening into one of the quiet reasons the team is still moving through the playoffs without a dip in offense.
When Jalen Williams strained his hamstring in Game 2 of the Thunder’s first-round playoff series against the Phoenix Suns, Mitchell moved into the starting lineup and stayed there for six games. In that stretch, he averaged 21.2 points, then topped it with a playoff career-high 28 points in Game 4 of the second-round sweep against the Los Angeles Lakers, a night that ended with Oklahoma City eliminating Los Angeles.
That matters today because Williams, who averaged 17.1 points per game during the regular season, could return for Game 1 of the Western Conference finals against the San Antonio Spurs. For the Thunder, Mitchell’s rise has taken the sting out of the absence. For Mitchell, it has been a chance to show that the scoring he built over years in Belgium and at UC Santa Barbara can travel to the postseason.
Mitchell was born in Ans, Belgium, on June 25, 2002, and played for Limburg United’s senior team during the 2019-20 season before accepting a basketball scholarship at UC Santa Barbara in 2021. He won 2022 Big West Freshman of the Year honors, was named the 2024 Big West Conference Player of the Year and entered the 2024 NBA draft after averaging 16.3 points as a sophomore and 20 points as a junior. Scouts noticed him at the NBA pre-draft camp in 2024, and the Thunder eventually brought him in as a second-round pick acquired from the Knicks after the draft.
The fit has been obvious in Oklahoma City. Mitchell, a 6-foot-4 guard, averaged 11.6 points, 3.7 assists and 2.2 rebounds in his first NBA season and has kept the Thunder from missing an offensive beat while Williams has been out. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said the team was never surprised by what Mitchell has done, adding that the rookie showed from the moment he arrived that he was already someone the locker room trusted. Mitchell has sounded just as steady, saying he knows what he can do when he gets on the floor and that he just wants to compete and help the team freely.
That confidence has matched the scouting report that followed him from college. Todd Ramasar has described Mitchell as a true three-level scorer, noting his 3s, midrange work and ability to get downhill and finish in the paint. He also said Mitchell held his own defensively. Those traits have shown up in the playoffs, where the Thunder have needed every point while waiting on Williams, a 2025 NBA All-Star, to return. If Williams is cleared for Game 1 against San Antonio, Oklahoma City will get back one of its regular-season scoring anchors. But Mitchell has already shown the Thunder that the next man in is more than a stopgap.
