Kenrich Williams signs multi-year extension with OKC Thunder

The Oklahoma City Thunder are in the midst of a rebuild, attempting to get to the next phase of that rebuild as OKC Thunder General Manager Sam Presti continues to compile talent through the NBA Draft such as Chet Holmgren, Josh Giddey, Jalen Williams, and a historic amount of future draft picks. When this rebuild started officially following the NBA Bubble, the Oklahoma City Thunder shipped fan-favorite Steven Adams to the New Orleans Pelicans in a deal that truly just involved matching salaries and draft assets. One of those matching salaries? Kenrich Williams.

The TCU product was nothing more than a throw-in, some roster projections did not even have Kenrich Williams making the cut after his first training camp in Oklahoma City. since then? The undrafted wing has gone on to have career seasons in Bricktown averaging eight points and seven points respectively. Williams shot 44 percent from three in his first season with the Thunder, while still shooting 33 percent this past season.

The Oklahoma City Thunder sign Kenrich Williams to a multi-year contract extension following a pair of career years, locking him up long-term

The OKC Thunder were able to work out a long-term extension with Kenrich Williams who will make 2.0-million dollars before earning 6 million, 6.5-million, 7.0-million, and 7.5-million over the next four years with the fourth year being a team option. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Lu Dort, Kenrich Williams, Chet Holmgren, Josh Giddey, Ousmane Dieng, Jalen Williams, and Tre Mann, are all under team control (or possible team control given the state of rookie-scale extensions) until after the 2026-27 NBA season.

Williams inks a four-year, 27.2-million dollar deal with a team option on that fourth year. This keeps him in Oklahoma City long-term, a place Williams says he wants to retire. This also keeps him on an extremely team-friendly deal, if a trade opportunity were to pop up.

Kenrich Williams is not supposed to be here. After not receiving a single Divison I offer, the Waco, Texas native found his way to TCU before eventually landing an NBA gig with New Orleans. Typically, “throw in” players to trades do not catch on and that is how their career within the NBA ends, see the Chris Paul trade to the Suns. Jalen Lecque never caught on anywhere.

The other players in the Pelicans trade, Zylan Cheatham, Josh Gray, and Darius Miller all have yet to make it back to the NBA. Cheatham and Gray have played a combined one game in the NBA since the deal, despite strong Summer League showings. Darius Miller played 18 games for the Thunder before the 32-year-old was out of the NBA. It is incredibly hard to get in this position.

The Oklahoma City Thunder have bypassed trade deals that involved Kenrich Williams, valuing him so much they put a first-round asking price on Williams at the Trade Deadline, and the 28-year-old has made no mistake about his love for the organization and community.

The two are a perfect marriage, and every player and coach has praised the scrappy wing for his leadership on and off the court. He is the exact piece you need to bridge you into the next step up the ladder of this rebuild.