Latest news with #KenrichWilliams
USA Today
a day ago
- Sport
- USA Today
2024-25 Thunder player grades: Kenrich Williams
The calendar has flipped to August, which means we've officially hit the low point of the NBA cycle. The next couple of months are the driest part of the year. Everybody has headed to vacation and awaits training camp to kick off the 2025-26 season. The Oklahoma City Thunder continue to enjoy their NBA championship. They had a historic 68-14 regular-season campaign that eventually led to the franchise's first title with a 2025 NBA Finals Game 7 win. They'll enter next season as a favorite to be a rare repeat winner. To reflect on their title run, Thunder Wire will conduct 2024-25 season grades for all 19 players who suited up for the squad at one point during the year. Eleventh up is Kenrich Williams, who helped the Thunder win a championship with rich depth: 2024-25 statistics: Advanced stats: Significant Percentile Finishes: Contract: Thoughts: One of the longest-tenured players on the roster, Williams had the chance to see the Thunder grow up from a rebuild situation to an NBA champion. Most role players don't get that opportunity. Instead, they get moved pretty early in the process. The 30-year-old has stayed with the franchise and was rewarded for his stint. Dealing with injuries last season, Williams had a bounce-back year. He helped the Thunder juggle through injuries by being a reliable bench player who could occasionally start. The veteran wing was the right mix of being a solid defender who could also knock down his catch-and-shoot looks. While his minutes have slowly declined over the years, that speaks more about the Thunder's rich depth. It affords the 30-year-old a chance to rest during the season. His style of basketball comes at the cost of dealing with small injuries throughout the year. They can be cautious about his recovery because they have other guys who can step up. The lower mileage on his legs helped Williams stay fresh for the playoffs. He had a disappointing postseason debut last year. He slowly fizzled out of the rotation, despite fans clamoring for more minutes. He redeemed himself with key moments throughout the Thunder's title run this year. Williams shined in the playoffs. Even though he was at the end of the rotation with the occasional DNP, he did his part to secure a championship. The role player was matchup-friendly against the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Indiana Pacers in their playoff series. Their lack of frontcourt size allowed OKC to go smaller and spread the floor. He fit that brand of basketball perfectly. Originally just a throw-in name in the 2020 Steven Adams to New Orleans Pelicans deal, Williams has worked his way up from a possible roster cut to a six-plus-year Thunder player. It's rare to see a role player leave such a huge impact on an NBA franchise, especially on his non-original squad. Williams' blue-collar personality has related to Thunder fans. His haircut and shy personality have endeared him to them. Always leaving it all on the floor, he helped set up the grounds of what eventually became one of the greatest defenses the NBA has ever seen. Moving Forward: See how much you can repeat last year's success. That's going to be the goal for about every Thunder player. They had one of the best seasons the NBA has ever seen. Williams played a role in that by being another bench piece who added to their rich depth. At this point, Williams is who he is. Not much real room for growth for the 30-year-old. He's a versatile wing who can defend and shoot the ball from the outside. Those types of players are always needed on every NBA roster. Like a lot of the Thunder's roster, he was another one of their more underrated developmental success stories. The outside shot has found its form on the Thunder. That's been the skill that's kept Williams in the league this long. While he might not be a high-volume outside shooter, his solid percentages make him somebody opposing defenses must keep an eye on. Williams was on the cusp of being out of the NBA after his second season. Instead, he took advantage of his fresh start in OKC and carved out a lengthy career. Only Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Lu Dort predate him on his time with the Thunder. As the Thunder get more expensive, players like Williams can help round out a contender. Soon, there will only be about 15% of the payroll to fill out 12 roster spots. Having a reliable forward on a team-friendly deal is one of the best ways to stay relatively deep without becoming too top-heavy a team. Final Grade: B
Yahoo
29-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
OKC Thunder jersey history No. 34 - Kenrich Williams (2020-25)
The Oklahoma City Thunder (and the Seattle Supersonics before them) have 51 jersey numbers worn by the players who have suited up for the franchise since its founding at the start of the 1967-68 season. To commemorate the players who wore those numbers, Thunder Wire is covering the entire history of jersey numbers and the players who sported them since the founding of the team. And while those Supersonics jerseys may not remain part of the franchise history should a new team be established in Seattle as was the case with the return of the Charlotte Hornets, they are part of the Thunder's history today. For this article, we continue with the 34th jersey number in the series, jersey No. 34, with 17 players in total having donned the jersey in the history of the franchise. The 16th of those players did so in the Oklahoma City Thunder era, forward alum Kenrich Williams. After ending his college career at TCU, Williams would go unselected in the 2018 NBA Draft, instead signing with the New Orleans Pelicans. In 2020, he would be dealt to the Thunder, and remains with the team at the time of writing. During his time suiting up for the Thunder, Williams wore only jersey No. 34 and put up 6.8 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 1.8 assists per game. All stats and data courtesy of Basketball Reference. This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: Thunder jersey history No. 34 - Kenrich Williams (2020-25)
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
3 trade targets for the Philadelphia 76ers in the upcoming offseason
The main goal for the Philadelphia 76ers in the 2025 offseason is to get healthy. They finished 24-58 in what was a miserable season due to all of the injuries suffered by Joel Embiid, Paul George, Tyrese Maxey, and plenty of others. If the Sixers get those three healthy, they will be back in business. However, the Sixers could also use some reliable depth. When one looks around the landscape of the NBA Playoffs at the moment, the teams that went deep into the postseason relied on their depth. It wasn't just a Big 3--like in Philadelphia's case--it's been about making sure players off the bench can help. Advertisement Therefore, there are a handful of moves the Sixers can make to improve their overall depth as time moves on. Here are three trade targets that make sense for Philadelphia: Kenrich Williams Apr 11, 2025; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kenrich Williams (34) passes the ball pu the court during the second quarter against the Utah Jazz at Delta Center. Mandatory Credit: Chris Nicoll-Imagn Images 2024-25 stats: 6.3 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 1.4 apg, 0.6 spg, 48.3% FG, 38.6% 3FG, 16.4 mpg Williams will make $7.1 million in 2025-26 and had a team option for the 2026-27 season. He is a reliable player who can knock down an open 3 and gets after it on the defensive end. The Sixers could always use a player of his stature on the roster. He is somebody that does the dirty work off the bench and would be able to give Philadelphia a spark. He shot 40.9% on catch-and-shoot 3s per the NBA's tracking database and that bodes well for a team like the Sixers. Dalton Knecht Apr 4, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Dalton Knecht (4) reacts after a 3-point basket in the first half against the New Orleans Pelicans at Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images 2024-25 stats: 9.1 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 0.8 apg, 0.3 spg, 46.1% FG, 37.6% 3FG, 19.2 mpg Advertisement The Lakers already tried trading Knecht at the deadline in an effort to acquire a big man. Maybe the Sixers can swoop in and offer up Andre Drummond as a possibility. The Sixers would then clear some more cap space to re-sign Quentin Grimes while Knecht would come off the bench and knock down some wide-open looks. He was a key contributor on LA's playoff team in 2025 so he has the experience of playing in high pressure situations which would help Philadelphia in this case for the second unit. Cam Johnson Mar 29, 2025; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Brooklyn Nets forward Cameron Johnson (2) looks on during the second half against the Washington Wizards at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Kucin Jr.-Imagn Images 2024-25 stats: 18.8 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 3.4 apg, 0.9 spg, 47.5% FG, 39% 3FG, 31.6 mpg Johnson would be a big addition if the Sixers were interested. He is a legitimated 3-point shooter, can make plays for others when he puts the ball on the floor, and his $20 million salary is reasonable for today's market. The Sixers would likely have to send Brooklyn the No. 3 pick, but that isn't a bad thing. Philadelphia would be bringing in a proven player in Johnson while creating more cap space to bring back both Grimes and Guerschon Yabusele in free agency--by moving off the No. 3 pick's salary for the 2025-26 season. Johnson would slide into the starting lineup and be a reliable offensive option. This article originally appeared on Sixers Wire: 3 trade targets for the Philadelphia 76ers in the upcoming offseason
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Thunder's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is voted NBA MVP
Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) is fouled by Clippers guard Norman Powell (24) while driving between Powell and Clippers teammate James Harden (1) during a game at Intuit Dome in March. (Wally Skalij / Associated Press) The case for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was simple. He's the best player on an Oklahoma City Thunder team that had the best record this season and set a league mark for margin of victory. If that wasn't enough, he also won the scoring title. That's an MVP season. Advertisement Gilgeous-Alexander was announced Wednesday as the NBA's Most Valuable Player, his first time winning the award. It's now seven consecutive years that a player born outside the U.S. won MVP, extending the longest such streak in league history. Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 32.7 points, 6.4 assists and five rebounds per game this season, leading the Thunder to a 68-14 record. The Thunder outscored teams by 12.9 points per game, the biggest margin in league history. He becomes the second Canadian to win MVP; Steve Nash won it twice. 'His value is his confidence,' Oklahoma City's Kenrich Williams said of Gilgeous-Alexander, his Thunder teammate for the last five seasons. 'His confidence that he has in himself and the confidence that he instills in every one of his teammates, including the coaches.' Advertisement Read more: Granderson: The Lakers should draft a big man who's also a grown-up Denver's Nikola Jokic — a winner of three of the last four MVP awards — was second, despite a season for the ages. He averaged 29.6 points, 12.7 rebounds and 10.2 assists per game, the first center to average a triple-double and the first player since all those stats were tracked to finish in the NBA's top three in all three of those categories. It was the sixth instance of a player finishing a season averaging a triple-double — at least 10 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds per game. Russell Westbrook did it four times and Oscar Robertson once, but only one of those triple-double seasons led to an MVP win. 'He's a special player,' Jokic said of Gilgeous-Alexander earlier this week when the Thunder eliminated the Nuggets in the Western Conference semifinals. 'His shot selection, his shot capability … he's always there. He's a special player.' Advertisement Milwaukee's Giannis Antetokounmpo, who averaged 30.4 points, 11.9 rebounds and 6.5 assists per game, was third. He started this run of international players winning MVP; Antetokounmpo, of Greek and Nigerian descent, won in 2019 and 2020. Jokic, a Serbian, won in 2021, 2022 and 2024. And Philadelphia's Joel Embiid, who was born in Cameroon but since became a U.S. citizen, won the award in 2023. Now, it's Gilgeous-Alexander — a son of Ontario, where hockey reigns — carrying the MVP flag. The MVP award, like most other NBA honors, was voted on by a global panel of 100 writers and broadcasters who cover the league and cast ballots shortly before the start of the playoffs. Advertisement The other awards that were part of that voting process and have already had their results unveiled: Cleveland's Kenny Atkinso, coach of the year; Atlanta's Dyson Daniels, most improved player; San Antonio's Stephon Castle, rookie of the year, Cleveland's Evan Mobley, defensive player of the year; New York's Jalen Brunson, clutch player of the year; Boston's Payton Pritchard, sixth man of the year. Other awards announced by the league since the end of the regular season: Golden State's Stephen Curry, Twyman-Stokes teammate of the year, Warriors teammate Draymond Green, hustle award; Oklahoma City's Sam Presti, executive of the year; Boston's Jrue Holiday, sportsmanship award for the second time in his career as well as social justice award. Get the best, most interesting and strangest stories of the day from the L.A. sports scene and beyond from our newsletter The Sports Report. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
USA Today
21-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Kenrich Williams provides boost in Thunder's 114-88 Game 1 win over Timberwolves
Kenrich Williams provides boost in Thunder's 114-88 Game 1 win over Timberwolves Collecting dust on the bench through the first two playoff rounds, Kenrich Williams waited for his moment. A new playoff series meant new role players who could be a prime matchup. The 30-year-old was well-rested and had Mark Daigneault look like a genius for going to him. Williams finished with eight points on 3-of-3 shooting and three rebounds. He shot 2-of-2 from 3. He played 10 minutes off the bench and committed three fouls, but they were a loud 10 minutes. The Oklahoma City Thunder dominated the second half in their 114-88 Game 1 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves. Quite the way to open up the Western Conference Finals with a 1-0 series lead. The Thunder flexed their depth as the NBA playoffs are down to four teams. Perhaps the Timberwolves are the perfect opponent to use Williams in considering their three-headed frontcourt monster of Rudy Gobert, Julius Randle and Naz Reid. You'll need all the players you can get against them. "First of all, he hasn't played significant minutes in a game since the last game in the regular season. That was five weeks ago. The amount of invisible work that it takes to keep yourself that sharp to be able to go in a playoff game like that in the Western Conference Finals and perform the way he did, the invisible work shows up there," Daigneault said about Williams. "That's unbelievable consistency, professionalism, mental toughness. All that stuff. I truly believe that it breathes life into the team when they see a guy not play. He was a huge contributor for us during the season and he didn't really play the first two series. He just puts his head down every day and keeps himself ready. To go in and deliver like that is a huge energy boost." Working in the background, Williams' work ethic has always resonated with his teammates. Especially with Chet Holmgren. The locker room leader famously gave the seven-footer words of encouragement after last series' Game 1 loss to the Nuggets. He was certainly happy to see him get his moment in the sun against the Timberwolves. "I watch K show up every single day and put the work in, regardless of the situation or what's going on in the games. He shows up and makes it happen," Holmgren said about Williams. "When I see somebody doing that, I know they're always going to be ready. I know the Coach is looking at it the same way. That's why I don't think Mark has anything hesitation of calling his name when he feels like the occasion calls for it."
