Thunder Rookie Otega Oweh Ruled Out for Entire Season After Ruptured Achilles

The Oklahoma City Thunder announced Wednesday that rookie guard Otega Oweh will miss the entire 2026-27 season after rupturing his right Achilles tendon during the team's preseason game against the Indiana Pacers.

The injury struck in overtime of Tuesday's 114-112 win at Paycom Center, in eerily familiar territory — the same building where Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton, who was back in action in that very game after missing all of last season, had ruptured his right Achilles in Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals. Oweh went down while challenging a Pacers three-point attempt, remained on the floor, and was carried off with the help of Isaiah Hartenstein and Jaylin Williams.

"Thunder guard Otega Oweh underwent a successful procedure today to address a ruptured right Achilles tendon," the team said in its official statement, noting the surgery was performed by Dr. Martin O'Malley at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York with Thunder medical staff present. "Oweh will miss the remainder of the 2026-27 season."

Oweh, 23, was the 41st overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft — selected by Miami and acquired by Oklahoma City in a draft-day trade — and signed a two-way contract with the champions. The former Kentucky standout scored eight points in 15 minutes off the bench on Tuesday, and had averaged 6.75 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.0 steals across four preseason appearances. His teammates will be hoping his recovery goes better than the Thunder's last lost rookie year: Nikola Topic sat out his entire first season in 2024 with an ACL injury.