How This Trade Impacts Oklahoma City Thunder
The Oklahoma City Thunder are still in the earlier stages of their rebuild. They are unlikely to make a push for the postseason, so they will continue compiling as many assets and draft picks as they can.
They can certainly pick up a few more by trading Kenrich Williams. They snag two more future second-round picks from the Los Angeles Lakers in this deal but also do not have to take any salary back to do so.
Because the Lakers have the trade exception, they can take on Williams without sending any players back. That is another win for the Thunder, as they are usually taking on unsavory contracts in exchange for draft compensation.
The Thunder would suffer defensively by trading away Williams, but at this stage, losing isn’t something that worries them too much. The more losing they do the better, as it will put them in a position to land a higher-rated prospect in the 2022 NBA Draft.
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Williams is averaging 20.2 minutes per game, so there would be some more minutes available for their younger players to soak up. At 27-years old, Williams doesn’t fit the Thunder’s timeline.
Being on a non-guaranteed deal for the 2022-23 season, he can be viewed as an expiring deal by the team that acquires him should they not want to hold onto him for next season. But, at only $2 million, the Lakers should want to retain his services for such a low price.
