Thunder forward shockingly tabbed as 'ambitious trade target' for direct rival

The OKC Thunder are easily one of the deepest teams in the entire association. With headliners such as superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to solid, all-around bench contributors like Aaron Wiggins, coach Mark Daigneault is equipped with a rotation that realistically could run 10 to 12-men deep in 2024-25.

Of course, considering there are 15 players permitted to be on an active roster at all times, even reaching this far into the club's talent pool still leaves the potential for quality players to be left on the outside looking in on on-court action.

With this, teams across the league that are still looking to bolster their rosters may soon begin to set their attention toward Oklahoma City as a possible in-season trade partner, and, to Bleacher Report's Andy Bailey, one particular conference rival should already be monitoring the organization for a specific, presumed end-of-bench contributor.

Thunder forward tabbed as 'ambitious trade target' for Mavericks

In a recent piece penned by the seasoned writer, Bailey discussed how the reigning Western Conference Champion, Dallas Mavericks don't appear to have many roster needs heading into the upcoming campaign.

Already equipped with superstars Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, promising young studs like Dereck Lively Jr., and tried-and-true, seasoned veterans such as Klay Thompson, it's evident that this squad does not need to strike on any big-time moves to be a serious threat to head back to the NBA Finals.

That said, almost every team could benefit from a slight rotational tweak here and there, and, to Bailey, Dallas could seriously use another perimeter defender, especially after the recent injury to Dante Exum.

Because of this, he is tabbing veteran forward Kenrich Williams as an "ambitious trade target" for the organization to have on their radar.

On top of his 6-foot-6 stature, the 29-year-old boasts a two-way skill set that many win-now teams covet, as he's a multipositional talent who holds a respectable 113 defensive rating for his career and, as Bailey pointed out in his piece, has "shot 38.8 percent from deep over the last four seasons."

Nicknamed "Kenny Hustle," since arriving in Loud City four years ago the tweener-forward has endeared himself to the Thunder faithful thanks to his in-game energy and multi-faceted style of play.

That said, with the bevy of new additions to and continuously developing talents on the OKC roster, some could argue that Williams, despite his popularity, is a rather expendable commodity, especially now that he's sidelined through at least the entirety of the preseason and possibly the early stages of the regular season following an "arthroscopic debridement procedure in his right knee" last month.

Still, regardless of his continuously diminishing usage within the Thunder rotation (saw his minutes drop from 22.8 per game in 2022-23 to 14.9 in 2023-24), keeping the established veteran in tow on this incredibly young roster could be far more beneficial to their championship aspirations than parting ways with him for, say, a future second-round pick.

Add all this to the fact that the Mavericks are a direct threat to Oklahoma City as they eye the Western Conference crown this coming season, and there's little to no reason to believe GM Sam Presti should even consider sending the likes of Kenrich Williams out to Dallas anytime soon.