The Thunder back out of the Agbaji signing after Chet Holmgren's knee tear

The Oklahoma City Thunder are no longer signing Ochai Agbaji, ESPN's Shams Charania reported Saturday, one day after the two sides agreed to a deal. The team wants to step back and reconsider its open roster spot now that Chet Holmgren is also out for a long stretch.

Holmgren had a biological treatment Friday on a small tear in his right patellar tendon, and the Thunder expect him back in eight to 10 weeks. The team said he first felt mild discomfort in the knee on Oct. 25. That was the same win over the Clippers in which Jalen Williams fractured his fibula and dislocated his left ankle and Cason Wallace tore the labrum in his left shoulder. Both needed surgery.

So in one game Oklahoma City lost two All-Stars and a starter. Williams and Wallace face recoveries of several months, though Oklahoma City has not ruled either out for the season, and Wallace will be re-evaluated before the regular season ends.

The Agbaji plan made sense on Friday. The Thunder needed a wing body with Williams and Wallace gone, and Agbaji, 26, is a former No. 14 pick with 108 career starts who was cut by the Knicks this month. He has averaged 7.2 points and 2.7 rebounds over 263 games for three teams. Sources told ESPN his health had nothing to do with the reversal.

What changed is the shape of the hole. Losing Holmgren takes away the Thunder's best rim protector and a big who spaces the floor, and a wing does not solve that. Isaiah Hartenstein becomes even more important, and the open spot could now go to a big man or stay open while the front office looks at trade options.

Oklahoma City still has Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and plenty of young talent. But depth gets tested fast when three rotation players go down in the first week, and Oklahoma City now has to win games in November and December with a lineup it never planned to use.

What to watch: Who fills the 15th roster spot, and how the Thunder split Holmgren's minutes in the frontcourt starting with Saturday night's game against Houston.