Kenrich Williams has been acclaimed by many Thunder fans and media in general to be Oklahoma City’s best trade asset — turns out, he may not get moved at all.
Yahoo Sports Writer Keith Smith broke the first substantial news on the 26-year-old wing Wednesday via Twitter, suggesting that Williams may be in for the long-haul.
“League sources say that it’s unlikely Kenrich Williams gets traded. Opposing teams have the sense that Oklahoma City really likes Williams and intends to keep him beyond this season.”
Keith Smith
As of now, among all other trade news — this is speculation. Words often tossed around trade circles include “likely” and “reportedly”, though these words do have some substance to them, tweets such as these do not assure Williams will stick around in Bricktown.
Having been outlined in an earlier article today, prior to Smith’s tweet, John Hollinger of The Athletic believes that deals for Williams would need “at least a second-round pick,” speculation — yes, indication he’s still on the market — maybe.
It is quite likely Sam Presti will dangle Williams in potential trade packages up until Thursday’s 3 p.m. ET deadline, but it goes without saying prospective teams would need to gather real assets to acquire the wing.
A product of this tweet could also point towards Presti potentially trying to garner leverage on Williams heading into the deadline — but once again, that is all speculative.
As of now, this report should have some merit to it considering Keith Smith is a fairly credible source. However; this tweet by no means indicates Williams is off the market — knowing Presti, it only increases the likelihood of a deal.