Few national analysts cover the NBA as well as The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor. His in-depth reporting shines with the rotation players he frequently writes about or refers to.
In his most recent power rankings, he used the Oklahoma City Thunder blurb to talk about backup wing Kenrich Williams.
Thunder fans already know how important Williams’ presence has been on the court. Fans around the league may recognize his name, but not many realize his impact.
O’Connor’s advice: “Get to know Kenny Hustle.”
“Kenrich Williams, a 26-year-old undrafted free agent from the 2018 class, is becoming one of my favorite bench players in the league.”
Williams’ box score numbers of about six points and four rebounds per game don’t particularly jump off the page, but if there’s two areas to focus on in the game log, they are his offensive rebounds and 3-point shooting.
In just 18.9 minutes per game, he’s averaging 1.3 offensive rebounds. His shooting sample size of just 1.4 attempts from deep per game is low, but he has made 42% of his 3s.
O’Connor wrote:
“If he can maintain a 3-point percentage in the mid-to-high 30s, he’ll be in the NBA for a decade. And if he can keep shooting around 40 percent, he’s going to make tens of millions before he retires.”
But there’s so much more to his game on the defensive end that doesn’t meet the box score. O’Connor referenced Williams’ ability to body up large wings and keep up with quick guards. A player like this is important to a rotation that wants to have any real success.
“The Thunder use him all over the floor; of players to log at least 500 minutes, Williams ranks as the NBA’s 24th most versatile defender, per BBall-Index.com’s versatility metric.”
A lot of teams are looking for wings and defensive help at the March 25 trade deadline.
If any have been paying attention to the Thunder, they’d be smart to try to nab Williams. If OKC is willing to part with him.
Oklahoma City was ranked No. 24 in The Ringer’s power rankings, up two spots from the previous release three weeks prior.
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