Once Kenrich Williams hangs up his sneakers for good, he has a post-playing job waiting for him. His proven over time to have a sharp eye for talent. The 31-year-old has seen an abundance of talent walk through the practice doors of the Oklahoma City Thunder over the years.
Way back when, Williams called his shot with Jalen Williams. In his first NBA training camp, he boldly called him a future All-Star. It looks obvious now, but at the time, he was viewed as a high-end role player. He went to a small school and was on the older side of the NBA draft prospect spectrum.
But Williams' prediction paid off. Williams turned into an All-NBA talent and helped the Thunder win the 2025 NBA championship. In that run, he had Gen Z Scottie Pippen comparisons.
And after an injury-plagued year, most have OKC penciled in as a co-title favorite simply because he's healthy now.
Williams' luck didn't stop there, though. He also called his shot with Ajay Mitchell last year. Make that two-for-two as he turned into a 14-point scorer. He broke out to be a certified important piece in OKC's rotation. Heck, he was a 20-point scorer in their Round 2 series sweep of the Los Angeles Lakers.
Now, entering his seventh season on the Thunder, who is Williams a fan of? He didn't take long to come up with a name at Thursday's 2026-27 NBA training camp — Aday Mara.
"I really like Big Fella. Big Spain is what I call him," Williams said. "I think he has the potential to be a first-team, second-team All-Defensive guy."
Wow. That's quite the bar to live up to. The Thunder selected Mara with the No. 12 pick of the 2026 NBA draft. After two so-so years at UCLA, his decision to transfer to Michigan paid off big time. He became a household name as he was one-third of the Wolverines' three-headed frontcourt monster en route to the 2026 national championship. The other two were fellow lottery picks in Morez Johnson Jr. and Yaxel Lendeborg.
Mara is a 7-foot-3, 262-pound monster. He towers over most of the NBA population — sans a couple of exceptions. Because of his sheer size, he'll be an easy bucket around the rim. And on defense, his rim protection will absolutely erase any daring attempts to go at him at the cup.
After their 2026 Western Conference Finals, the Thunder were reminded that size is the way to go. The West is stacked with talented frontcourt players. If OKC hopes to bring home at least one more NBA championship, it needs help in that department. It hopes that Mara can eventually sharpen out his game.
You can count Williams as one of his early supporters. If he does live up to his predictions, then that'll be three-for-three for the future NBA scout.
Kenrich Williams called his shot with Jalen Williams at his first training camp. He called him a future All-Star. Is there anybody this year he has the same feelings for?
— Clemente Almanza (@CAlmanza1007) October 1, 2026
“I really like Big Fella. Big Spain is what I call. I think he has potential to be a first-team,… pic.twitter.com/Mlp1e2m9r4
This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: Kenrich Williams believes this OKC Thunder player has 'All-Defensive' potential
