When the Oklahoma City Thunder lost all three of Jalen Williams, Cason Wallace, and Chet Holmgren to lengthy injuries within the span of a couple of days, it seemed like hope was rapidly fading for this team.
In a sense, it was. If neither Wallace nor Williams is able to return this season, this simply isn't the same caliber of roster, or contender, as it would've been otherwise. Even if Ajay Mitchell takes a leap towards stardom, we saw what happened when Williams missed most of the Western Conference Finals last season—Oklahoma City simply doesn't have the offensive talent to overcome a team like the San Antonio Spurs without him.
But this is still an exceedingly deep roster and a well-coached team, and they're not going to be easy to defeat on any given night no matter who's available. They proved that in their back-to-back wins over the Cleveland Cavaliers, both of which served as major indicators of the spirit and resilience of this team in the face of adversity.
Of course, much of the credit falls upon Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who averaged 42.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, and eight assists while shooting 47.4% from beyond the arc between the two matchups. If the Thunder are going to maintain this complexion over the remainder of the regular season, the responsibility is primarily going to fall upon him.
But credit is due to the rest of the Thunder's contributors as well—most notably Kenrich Williams, who's emerged from the back end of the rotation to fill a dire need on the wing for Oklahoma City since their injury woes first struck.
Kenrich Williams is now a massively important piece for the Thunder—and he's already more than justified his offseason return
There was certainly some doubt over whether it was feasible to bring Williams back this offseason. The Thunder declined his player option, and they had a number of things to sort out financially with the onset of Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams' rookie extensions before they could finalize their roster.
They ultimately were able to move off of Luguentz Dort, Aaron Wiggins, and Isaiah Joe in trades to amass additional draft capital, freeing them up to bring Kenrich Williams back just below his salary mark from his previous multi-year deal. Even so, with the influx of young talent on the roster, it seemed like he would be the 11th or 12th man in Oklahoma City's rotation. Of course, things didn't unfold according to projections.
Williams has now started each of the past five games for the Thunder, and for good reason. He's virtually the only player available on the roster that's capable of providing the same physicality and staunch defensive play on the wing that Oklahoma City is missing in Williams, and even if his offensive game is, obviously, more limited, he's got enough juice from beyond the arc to play a major role in the offense as a whole.
That was the argument for bringing him back this offseason—with Jalen Williams absent in the Conference Finals, Kenrich Williams saw some substantial playing time simply as a result of his physicality and experience in those types of games.
The Thunder's offseason decision is already paying major dividends. In the two matchups against Cleveland, Williams averaged 12.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 1.5 assists while knocking down five of his nine attempts from 3-point range. He also provided solid on-ball and off-ball defense, matching up with James Harden routinely over the course of the night as the Thunder's best perimeter defender, Alex Caruso, eased his way back from injury.
There is still the option for Oklahoma City to trade for a wing before the end of the season, but Sam Presti isn't normally one to make rash moves, and the team's acquisitions of both Micah Peavy and Dalen Terry may very well be the end of the story there.
That means that, no matter what happens, Williams is going to vastly outplay the $5 million value on his contract in 2026-27, and that's a major win for the Thunder at this juncture.
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