Tag: Kenrich Williams

OKC Thunder player grades: Josh Giddey makes history, Lu Dort scores 31 in 106-101 loss to Bulls

Josh Giddey once again makes history as being the second-youngest player in NBA history to record a triple double. Who’s in first place you might ask? Well none other than Giddey too!

The Oklahoma City Thunder complete its road back-to-back with a 106-101 loss to the Chicago Bulls. It seems like the Thunder lost a lot of juice in the second half as tired legs took over. The Thunder are currently in a pretty brutal stretch in its schedule where the team hasn’t had more than one day off in over two weeks. So the fact that they were able to only lose to the Bulls, who are one of the better teams in the Eastern Conference, by just five points on the second night of back-to-back shows just how well-coached this team is.

Josh Giddey and Lu Dort led the way for the Thunder. Giddey recorded the second-youngest triple-double in NBA history — with him also owning the record for the youngest. For Dort, he finished with 31 points on a career-high 14 free throw attempts.

For the Bulls, DeMar DeRozan and Nikola Vucevic each had a 30 piece with the team needing every single one of those points to squeeze by with a win. DeRozan finished with 38 points while Vucevic finished with 31 points and 15 rebounds.

Overall, this was an encouraging performance to see as the Thunder’s young players were able to keep up with a legit playoff contender. This game will go down as a loss but there are a lot of positives to take away from it. Let’s take a look at player grades.

OKC Thunder news: Thunder stand pat on Thursday’s trade deadline

Kenrich Williams and Mike Muscala will finish the season with the Thunder.

The NBA trade deadline came and went and the Oklahoma City Thunder stood pat on Thursday. This is a little bit surprising as the rebuilding Thunder had two veterans on cheap deals in Kenrich Williams and Mike Muscala has reportedly garnered trade interest as they are both having career seasons. More so the former than the latter because Muscala is currently indefinitely out due to an ankle injury that might require offseason surgery.

The Thunder’s reported asking price for Williams was a first-round pick. So it appears that was never offered by any interested team as Williams stays put. Now, this does not mean that neither Williams nor Muscala can get traded. Both have team options for next season, which means that they could still be shipped off in the offseason.

All in all, considering how the Thunder are a rebuilding team with two older veterans having career seasons on cheap salaries, it’s a bit surprising that the team did not sell high on their trade value in exchange for draft picks and/or young talent.

The Thunder only made one trade this week and that involved the Miami Heat in exchange for KZ Okpala and adjustments made to the 2023 first-round pick the Heat owed the Thunder. Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault mentioned Wednesday that Okpala’s status with the team will be determined after the deadline.

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OKC Thunder player grades: Poku, Theo shine in otherwise forgettable loss to Raptors, 117-98

Thunder provide a little bit of a throwback game to last season with Poku and Theo playing major minutes.

On the eve of the NBA trade deadline, the Oklahoma City Thunder fall to the Toronto Raptors, 117-98. The Thunder’s losing streak extends to three games.

The Raptors essentially had control throughout this entire, leading by 12 points after the first quarter. The Thunder were able to make interesting and not a straight-up blowout, but the final result never really felt threatened.

Overall, the Thunder’s scoring distribution was very evenly spread as six players finished with double-digit points with no one scoring more than 18 points.

This was a solid performance for Aleksej Pokusevski and Theo Maledon — two guys who have struggled all season long. It was a nice positive sign to see the sophomore players have one of their best games of the season.

But besides that, this was a very meh game for the Thunder as bigger things are on the horizon with the trade deadline less than 24 hours away. It’ll be interesting to see what moves the team makes as they have at least one player with trade interest. Let’s take a look at player grades.

OKC Thunder player grades: Giddey, Dort lead Thunder to competitive loss against the Warriors, 110-98

Steph & Klay going nuclear and hitting timely threes against OKC, just like the good ole days

The Oklahoma City Thunder fall to the Golden State Warriors, 110-98. But make no mistake about it — the final score does not do the Thunder’s effort justice in terms of how close and competitive they kept it for the first 46 minutes of the game.

With 2:36 left to go, a Josh Giddey layup capped off a personal six-point run for the rookie guard that cut the Warriors lead to just five points. Then the Warriors duo of Steph Curry and Klay Thompson went nuclear from three and went on a 9-2 run to finish the game. Just like old times.

But even with the loss, the Thunder deserve a ton of credit for making this game interesting for the full four quarters. The Warriors are a title contender and the Thunder are a rebuilding team missing four of its top six rotation players — which includes Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. So the fact that they were able to make the Warriors sweat this one out goes to show just how resilient this team is. Let’s take a look at player grades.

OKC Thunder player grades: Lu Dort, Josh Giddey leads team to third-straight win

The Thunder were able to extend its winning streak to three games as they defeat the Trail Blazers for a second time in a five-day span.

The Oklahoma City Thunder were able to make it two-for-two this week in terms of wins over the Portland Trail Blazers as they win one on the road against their divisional rival, 96-93. The Trail Blazers had a chance to tie the game after inbounding the ball full court with 3.1 seconds left but Anfernee Simons missed a fairly decent look from deep and the buzzer sounded.

This win extends the Thunder’s winning streak to three games — all without Shai Gilgeous-Alexander — behind the backs of Lu Dort and Josh Giddey. Dort continues to step up and carry the scoring load as he led the team with 23 points while Giddey added 16 points and seven rebounds.

For the Trail Blazers, Simons and CJ McCollum led the team in scoring with 19 points each while Jusuf Nurkic contributed with a 14 point and 16 rebound double-double. Let’s take a look at player grades in this win.

Bleacher Report lists Kenrich Williams, Mike Muscala as potential trade targets for the Warriors

Kenrich Williams and Mike Muscala were listed as potential trade targets for the Warriors in a @BleacherReport article.

Bleacher Report’s Zach Buckley published an article on Jan. 27 that listed off three trade targets for the Golden State Warriors as the Feb. 10 NBA trade deadline nears. And two of those candidates are players on the Oklahoma City Thunder in Kenrich Williams and Mike Muscala.

Both veterans have been popular names discussed in trade deadline talks that relate back to the Thunder. They are both on team-friendly contracts and would fit seamlessly in any playoff rotation with their ability to stretch the floor. Both are also a bit too old to fit the Thunder’s current rebuilding timeline as Williams is 27 years old and Muscala is 30 years old. Let’s take a look at the reasoning Buckley provided for both Thunder veteran bench players.

OKC Thunder player grades: Thunder complete 18-point comeback in win against Blazers

The Thunder snap its seven-game losing streak as the Blazers struggle to score just 81 points.

In their first of at least 10 games without Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the Oklahoma City Thunder were able to complete the 18-point comeback against the Portland Trail Blazers in a 98-81 win. The Thunder were really able to turn things around in the second half as they outscored the Trail Blazers, 59-34.

The Thunder defense deserves a lot of credit. It’s easy to dunk on the Trail Blazers for failing to beat a rebuilding Thunder team without its best player, but keep in mind that they averaged 117.7 points in its last three games.

It was an evenly distributed scoring game for the Thunder as four players finished with double-digit scoring with no one exceeding 18 points. Just like Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault has preached since Gilgeous-Alexander went down, no one single person is going to make up for his production and it’s going to take a collective effort where everybody excels in their role. That was clearly the case in Monday’s win over the Trail Blazers. 22 of its 35 made field goals were assisted on. Now it’s time to see if this can carry over for the remainder of Gilgeous-Alexander’s absence. Let’s take a look at player grades.

NBA trade rumors: Three players who can help contenders at the deadline

Who are some of the non-star players who could be on the move at the trade deadline?

While we’ve all constantly heard big names like Ben Simmons and James Harden included in trade rumors over the last few weeks, it’s more likely that the players who are traded will make an impact around the edges. It’s exciting to think about Damian Lillard or Bradley Beal in new uniforms, but typically, it’s the role players who are on the ones most often swapped.

As such, we’ve surveyed the league to find three of the most intriguing players who could realistically be soon on their way to a new destination once the deadline arrives. Each of these players projects as someone who could have a positive impact no matter where they wind up.

NBA trade rumors: Three players who can help contenders at the deadline

While we’ve all constantly heard big names like Ben Simmons and James Harden included in trade rumors over the last few weeks, it’s more likely that the players who are traded will make an impact around the edges. It’s exciting to think about Damian Lillard or Bradley Beal in new uniforms, but typically, it’s the role players who are on the ones most often swapped.

As such, we’ve surveyed the league to find three of the most intriguing players who could realistically be soon on their way to a new destination once the deadline arrives. Each of these players projects as someone who could have a positive impact no matter where they wind up.

OKC Thunder rumors: Thunder asking for first-round pick in Kenrich Williams trade discussions

@BleacherReport has reported that the Thunder have asked for a first-round pick in Kenrich Williams trade discussions.

In Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer’s latest article that described intel surrounding the NBA trade deadline, which is exactly two weeks away on Feb. 10, he gave some information regarding the Oklahoma City Thunder and Kenrich Williams:

“For teams inquiring about adding Oklahoma City swingman Kenrich Williams, the Thunder’s asking price has so far been categorized as a first-round pick.”

This would make sense from the Thunder’s side. Williams is averaging 7.1 points and 4.1 rebounds while shooting 38.2 percent from three. Williams’ non-guaranteed two million dollar salary for next season also should make him that much more appealing for playoff teams.

The market price for a solid role player who can be part of a shortened playoff rotation while making close to league minimum should be a first-round pick. It will be interesting to see what Thunder GM Sam Presti does with Williams as he is beloved by the team and has stated his desire to retire in Oklahoma City.

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