Kenrich Williams Inks New Contract With OKC Thunder

To start the offseason, there were plenty of questions around what the Thunder would do with their roster. They had three impending contract options on veteran big man Kenrich Williams, starting center Isaiah Hartenstein and defensive ace Lu Dort. The Thunder have worked out a long-term deal with Hartenstein and accepted the team option on Dort. Now, they have resolution with Williams.

After declining his team option earlier this summer, the Oklahoma City Thunder have reportedly inked Williams to a brand new one year $5 million deal. This saves the Thunder money after declining his $7.2 million deal.

Shaving money from the tax bill has been accomplished by the OKC Thunder this summer without sacrificing much from the current roster. The team has traded Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins to Eastern Conference foes, while re-signing Hartenstein and Williams to lower numbers than their team options would have been.

For now, the Thunder have a full 15 man roster and have a reported trio of two-way guys. The offseason is still young, things can change, but it is certain that Williams will be back in Bricktown. Something that wasn't tough to predict as the TCU product has made no bones about wanting to be in Oklahoma City.

"Yeah, it's no secret that I want to be here until I'm done playing. I haven't really had a chance to think about that yet. I'm just processing last night's loss. I'm pretty sure those conversations will be brought up, but I definitely want to be here.," Williams said. "Just the environment, the culture, the people that I work with every day, like this is a job. You don't want to go into a toxic job. This is a job where I can come in and be myself, and everybody around me is just good people and a good environment. Not to mention we're really great at basketball."

His value on the court comes in spot minutes, with a unique ability to flip the energy of games off the bench on nights where the team just doesn't have it. He also is a valuable mentor and leadership player in this locker room. Perhaps the benefit there will come with the Thunder's rookies. Trying to usher in Aday Mara, Bennett Stirtz, Otega Oweh, Thomas Sorber and the still young Nikola Topic those guys will likely experience games where they log heavy minutes followed up by not being factored into the rotation. Williams has been there done that, now he can show these young guys how to handle that situation and stay ready.

This is a nice move for Oklahoma City to get a valuable player back in their locker room while saving money.

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