Does this trade make sense for the Oklahoma City Thunder?
Oklahoma City is in no shape to compete for a playoff spot this season and while Kenrich Williams has been a solid rotational player for him, they might as well move him since he is a guy that will likely get waived in the offseason anyways.
It is not that the Oklahoma City Thunder do not like him, but turning 27-years-old the first week of December, he doesn’t really fit into what they are building with their young players. Plus, the Thunder could have at least three first-round picks in the 2022 NBA Draft, meaning they will need 3 new roster spots to give to these incoming prospects.
Kenrich Williams is one of the “odd-men-out” for Oklahoma City right now, but that should not deteriorate his impact in this league.
The 6’6” wing has proven that he can play at a high-level on both ends of the floor and while he is not an elite-level talent, you know what you are going to get with him.
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Compared to other wings in the league, this is one of the main reasons why Kenrich Williams has a chance to be one of the more valuable trade assets available this NBA trade deadline.
Moving Williams for Culver and a future second-round pick gives the Thunder more future value to play around with and who knows, maybe Jarrett Culver can turn into a core building block for them to utilize moving forward.
The worst scenario for the Thunder in this trade is that Culver contributes less than Williams did for them off-the-bench and is someone that they do not bring back next year. This really is not a bad thing since the Thunder do not have a cap problem and they would get a future draft pick anyways.