How Kenrich Williams Found His NBA Home in Oklahoma City

When the Pelicans signed-and-traded Kenrich Williams to the Thunder, simply to make salaries match in the larger multi-team Jrue Holiday-Bucks package, nobody could've guessed just how much Williams would end up meaning to the organization.

That was back in 2020, and now, Williams is one of the lone roster survivors from Oklahoma City's complete rebuild. In the grand scheme of things, Sam Presti's turnaround din't take long, but the turnover on the roster was rather significant.

There's a reason the Thunder chose to keep Williams around though. His mentality on and off the court embody what Presti describes as a "Thunder Guy" and he's a core veteran that could genuinely spend the rest of his career in Oklahoma City.

“My first two years in New Orleans, I was trying to figure out how to stay in the league," Williams recalled at Thunder media day on Monday. "Once I got to OKC everything settled in for me. I was able to play my game. We have some great coaches that instilled some confidence in me, my teammates as well.”

It's always important to keep around a trusted player or two from day one of the rebuild to pass on traits to the newcomers in the organization. Williams, nicknamed "Kenny Hustle" by the OKC faithful, shared the Thunder's vision from day one.

He bought into the Thunder's defensive-minded mentality and chose to compete hard night in and night out. His selflessness has led to many opportunities, including filling in at the center spot for a good portion of last season despite being 6-foot-6.

Last summer, he was rewarded with a four-year, $27.2 million contract extension, and in the process, he rewarded the organization too. Williams took a team-friendly deal to stay with the Thunder long-term and see the rebuild through. He's just starting to reap the benefits of two long years in the beginning.

In three seasons with the Thunder, Williams has averaged 7.8 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game in 22 minutes. He's improved as a shooter every year, totaling 50.7% from the floor and 38.4% from 3-point range.

“The coaching staff and organization instilling competitiveness in us, being able to compete at the highest level," Williams said when asked about the start of the rebuild. "The game now is 70% on how you compete. If you compete hard and you play hard you’ll have success as a team. And that’s one of the things that the coaching staff kind of instilled in us early. We have to play super hard and be competitive.”

Multiple contenders have offered first-round picks to steal Williams away over the last two seasons, but the Thunder chose to hang on to the locker room veteran. Now, Oklahoma City will use him as a glue guy to contend. It's funny how that all works out.

“As a basketball player, as a hooper this is what you ask for," Williams said about the talented, young roster in Oklahoma City. "Just a competitive team, nothing handed to you. Just compete, that’s the main thing. We have a bunch of guys on the team that can do a bunch of different things. Training camp is gonna be fun.”