Chet Holmgren may be playing for his future next season.
The Oklahoma City Thunder could potentially trade their star big man Holmgren if he continues to struggle against rival center Victor Wembanyama of the San Antonio Spurs, Zach Harper of The Athletic reported on Tuesday. Harper notes that the Thunder are staring down the second apron of the luxury tax and could have to make a major decision on their core players soon.
Holmgren, 24, was OKC’s No. 2 overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft and has since developed into an All-Star, an All-NBA selection, and an All-Defensive selection. The seven-footer was an impactful starting center on the 2025 Thunder championship team and followed that up by averaging career highs with 17.1 points and 8.9 rebounds per game last season.
But the Spurs will be the biggest roadblock for the Thunder in the Western Conference, presumably for the next several years to come. Meanwhile, Holmgren has largely no-showed his head-to-head matchups against the San Antonio star Wembanyama, most notably with his complete disappearing act in a Game 7 loss to the Spurs in this year’s Western Conference Finals. After that game, Holmgren even looked terrified while answering a reporter’s question about Wembanyama.
Holmgren will be starting a new five-year, $239.2 million max extension with the Thunder next season. With Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (on a four-year, $271.2 million supermax) and Jalen Williams (also on a five-year, $239.2 million max extension) having gigantic contracts of their own too, OKC is right at the doorstep of salary-cap hell.
To give themselves some extra breathing room, the Thunder decided this offseason to let Luguentz Dort go in a sign-and-trade, trade both Aaron Wiggins and Isaiah Joe outright, and effectively restructure contracts for both Isaiah Hartenstein and Kenrich Williams. But with Ajay Mitchell, Jaylin Williams, and Jared McCain all set to be extension-eligible next summer, OKC may have to take a long, hard look at Holmgren’s future once that time comes around.
