Though the OKC Thunder are in a rebuilding team, they are most certainly not the prototypical tankjob squad — much to the delight of their fanbase.
Sure, Oklahoma City may have a sub-.500 record of 10-15, but they are constantly finding themselves in contention for a win on any given night, regardless of who they find themselves squaring off against.
What makes this more impressive is the fact that they are doing this even after parting with the majority of players that were major catalysts in their surprise 2019-20 postseason run during this past offseason.
However, though this in-between period was filled with offloading, the Thunder did manage to have themselves a solid, albeit small, onboarding period, which managed to land them one of their most productive assets through the first 25 games of this season in Kenrich Williams.
Kenrich Williams has proven to be quite a nice addition for the OKC Thunder
Acquired as somewhat of a filler contract in the Steven Adams trade with the New Orleans Pelicans, Williams has played himself into consistent minutes and, in turn, is posting solid 3-and-D averages of 5.7 points on 45 percent shooting from deep and is boasting a defensive rating of 111.
His production has been so good, in fact, that Bleacher Report went as far as to give the acquisition of Williams an ‘A-‘ grade.
Citing the fact that his play has exceeded expectations by a long shot, writer Dan Favale believes the third-year forward could be a great “do it all” asset for this rebuilding OKC Thunder team moving forward:
"Williams is providing Oklahoma City with a dab of everything in moderate playing time. He’s finishing pretty well around the basket and finding nylon on more than 43 percent of his triples. He seems to be having a defensive epiphany. The Thunder have him checking guards, star wings and some bigs. He has logged reps at center.Consistency remains Williams’ biggest hurdle. He’s delivering now, but promising flashes in the past have always faded. Ask the New Orleans Pelicans. But the Thunder have set themselves up perfectly to capitalize on a possible breakthrough. Williams is on a cheap three-year, $6 million deal that’s fully non-guaranteed in each of the next two seasons. Picking him up was a nice bit of business during a summer in which they were entrenched in the trade and draft markets."
Should his level of play continue throughout the duration of the rest of his contract, Presti will have proven once again how great of a talent scout he is and, in turn, will have given this Thunder team yet another solid rotation player moving forward.