The injuries continue to pile up for this OKC Thunder frontcourt as they received another crushing health-related update after Sunday night’s loss to the Golden State Warriors.

After taking a hard fall to the ground in the first quarter during a play from a driving Andrew Wiggins layup, budding star big man Chet Holmgren was helped to the locker room and shortly thereafter was ruled out for the remainder of the game.

Hours after the game’s final buzzer sounded, it was revealed that the sophomore suffered a right iliac wing fracture in his right hip and will be sidelined for the next eight to 10 weeks.

Not only is this devastating due to the fact that Holmgren is one of OKC’s foundational centers, but it marks yet another blow to the ball club’s already depleted center depth, as now all three of their trusted options in him, Isaiah Hartenstein, and Jaylin Williams will be on the sidelines wearing street clothes for the foreseeable future.

Naturally, this unfavorable situation the Thunder find themselves in has encouraged fans, pundits and keyboard warriors alike to take on the role of make believe GM, with the mission of finding possible targets that Sam Presti and company could pursue to get their big man strengthen.

In these exercises, many different names have been mentioned as possible options, with players ranging from veterans still on the free agency market to proven contributors currently on opposing teams.

However, not all suggestions are based in reality, and one popular name floating around that isn’t considered a realistic option is Portland Trail Blazers center Robert Williams III.

Over his seven-year professional career, Robert Williams III has established himself as a truly impressive center talent, one who can compete on the boards, protect the paint and run at an elite level on fast breaks.

Additionally, his per-100 averages are absolutely sensational, as he finds himself with a career stat line of 17.6 points, 16.5 rebounds (6.1 offensive), and 4.0 blocks while shooting 72.9 percent from the floor.

While these talking points are certainly undeniable, unfortunately there is another, perhaps more notable, adjective to describe Williams: injury-prone.

Since entering the league in 2018, the big man has only played in more than 35 games in a season twice, only recently returning to the hardwood after a 2023-24 season that saw him play just six games.

When active, the man known as Timelord is a great two-way contributor who, honestly, offers a lot of traits this Thunder team could use more of (rim protection, rebounding, menacing paint presence, etc.) .

However, the idea of ​​adding another big man to Oklahoma City’s arsenal is to bring injury insurance on board in response to Holmgren’s latest ailment, as well as for the several other bigs on their depth chart who are currently dealing with health issues of their own .

So why would this front office bring in a player with a career injury list longer than a CVS receipt?

Sam Presti has already publicly stated that he is unwilling to make any trades during the season because he believes they “always carry a lot of risk.”

Trading for Williams would go completely against this sentiment.

Plus, it’s not like the Thunder won’t be getting frontcourt reinforcements already on the payroll any time soon.

It was announced on Monday that forward Kenrich Williams has been cleared to return to play after a two-month absence that saw him sidelined for the entire preseason and the first 10 games of the regular season.

Soon, both Isaiah Hartenstein (who is already doing practice drills, mind you) and Jaylin Williams will also find their way back into the rotation, holding down the fort in Holmgren’s absence.

Sure, for the short term Robert Williams could be a solid part of this pivot pool, but once all of the current Thunder bigs are medically cleared, his arrival would make things busier, and it’s not like he’s an interchangeable talent that would move forward can extend this coaching staff’s desire to create positionless formations that add flexibility – the 27-year-old is a center and that’s it!

This is not to say that the addition of a traditional five by Presti and co should be avoided. But coughing up resources for limited talent, even one as promising as Williams when healthy, may not be the best course of action.