The Oklahoma City Thunder have brought back a fan-favorite forward, as the team has re-signed Kenrich Williams to a one-year contract.
The Thunder briefly cut Williams, as they turned down his $7.2 million team option earlier this week. However, the team brought him back on a cheaper deal as he will be paid $5 million for next season.
Veteran NBA reporter Chris Haynes first revealed the news on social media.
“Free agent wing Kenrich Williams has reached an agreement to return to the Oklahoma City Thunder on a one-year, $5M deal, league sources tell me,” Haynes wrote on X.
Kenrich Williams is a Fan Favorite
Nicknamed “Kenny Hustle,” Williams has become a fan favorite in Oklahoma City ever since he first joined the team in 2020 after spending the first two seasons of his NBA career with the New Orleans Pelicans.
The 31-year-old Williams has spent the past six seasons in Oklahoma City, playing an important role as a key reserve for the team, having played at least 50 games in all but one of his seasons in OKC.
Last year, Williams played in 56 games for the Thunder, including 2 starts, averaging 6.5 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 1.4 assists in 15.3 minutes per game.
In his NBA career, Williams has played in 447 games, including 80 starts, averaging 6.4 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 1.7 assists in 19.3 minutes per game.
Williams won the NBA Championship in 2025 as a member of the Thunder’s bench.
He is a well-liked teammate amongst the Thunder locker room, and the fans like him, too, so it was a good move by Thunder GM Sam Presti to bring him back for another season in OKC.
Thunder Facing Second Apron Crunch
One of the reasons the Thunder had originally cut Williams before re-signing him to a slightly cheaper contract was that the team was facing issues with the second apron. After re-signing center Isaiah Hartenstein to a big-money contract and picking up the team option for Luguentz Dort, the Thunder had to turn down that team option on Williams due to luxury tax issues. But clearly, Presti felt that Williams was important, so they brought him back, though with a slightly cheaper contract that will help the team’s second apron issues.
The Thunder already traded away Aaron Wiggins and Isiah Joe this offseason to cut down their luxury tax number, so it will be interesting to see if Presti sheds salary anymore as the offseason goes on after he brought back Williams.
If Thunder ownership is okay with Presti spending more money and going deep into the luxury tax, then he could have a few more moves up his sleeve this offseason. But it does feel like the majority of Presti’s heavy lifting has been done, as the Thunder look like mostly the same team that they were last season when they led the league with 64 wins in the regular season.
Despite losing to the San Antonio Spurs in the playoffs, look for the Thunder to make another deep playoff push next season and try to capture the franchise’s second NBA Championship.
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