OKC Thunder: 3 biggest surprise players from 2020-21 season
By Mark Nilon
The OKC Thunder are in the midst of a full-fledged rebuild, which means they are in an optimal position to take chances and experiment.
A prime example of this fad came in the form of player additions throughout their 2020-21 campaign for, in comparison to 2019-20, Oklahoma City finished off the year with just five returning players.
As a whole, because of the additions, the team wound up wrapping up the season with one of the youngest and most inexperienced rosters in the entire association. Yet, even with this, there still managed to be quite a few surprisingly good producers from this batch of ballers.
Today, we discuss 3 OKC Thunder players, in specific, who managed to surprise fans, analysts, and the team as a whole with their level of play during this past season:
OKC Thunder player No. 1) Kenrich Williams
Kenrich Williams came to the OKC Thunder via the deal that sent Steven Adams to the New Orleans Pelicans and, upon his arrival, was viewed as a mere throw-in to the return package.
Though his first few months in the Sooner State may have been rather quiet, over time the third-year forward managed to work his way into both large sums of minutes within the rotation as well as into the hearts of the Oklahoma City fanbase.
Once February rolled around, the 26-year-old was spending ample time on the hardwood, averaging 26 minutes played whilst posting 9.1 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.1 steals per game on 61 percent shooting from the floor and 47 percent shooting from the floor and provided stellar play on the less glamorous side of the ball.
On the season, the man known as Kenny Hustle went on to contribute eight points, 4.1 rebounds, and 2.3 assists while shooting a robust 44.4 percent from deep.
Proving to have the skills to be that 3-and-D extraordinaire that every team highly covets, Williams managed to turn himself into being an afterthought offseason addition into a player many here at TI believe should be viewed as a talent that managed to carve out a role within the Thunder’s core moving forward.