{"id":709991,"date":"2026-06-02T08:23:19","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T08:23:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/709991\/"},"modified":"2026-06-02T08:23:19","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T08:23:19","slug":"nba-media-slams-chet-holmgren-amid-growing-uncertainty-about-future-with-thunder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/709991\/","title":{"rendered":"NBA Media Slams Chet Holmgren Amid Growing Uncertainty About Future With Thunder"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Oklahoma City Thunder<\/a>\u2018s elimination from the playoffs can be attributed to several factors, but Chet Holmgren<\/a>\u2018s dismal performance in the Western Conference Finals certainly stands out. As enraged as fans were after Holmgren\u2019s disappearance in Game 7 of the WCF<\/a>,\u00a0 the media were far more critical of the big man\u2019s display.<\/p>\n

For all intents and purposes, Chet Holmgren faded when the Thunder needed him the most<\/a>. In acknowledging this, the NBA media not only called out Holmgren but also urged OKC to trigger a trade for the big man.<\/p>\n

ESPN analyst Kendrick Perkins<\/a> proposed an intriguing trade involving Holmgren and Giannis Antetokounmpo<\/a> on a recent episode of \u201cGet Up<\/a>,\u201d stating:<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I\u2019m OKC and Sam Presti, I\u2019m going for it. I\u2019m trying to get into the Giannis Antetokounmpo sweepstakes. I want to make an offer to the Milwaukee Bucks that includes Chet Holmgren because what Chet Holmgren displayed in these Conference Finals was ugly, and it was an embarrassment.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat he showed was no heart, no soul. And Wemby is not going anywhere. So, in order to neutralize Wemby and have a shot at making it back to the Finals and winning the championship, you\u2019ve got to go get a player like Giannis Antetokounmpo to anchor your defense and be a dominant presence on the offensive end.\u201d<\/p>\n

The notion of the Thunder pursuing Giannis Antetokounmpo<\/a> may seem outrageous at first, but by leveraging Holmgren in this deal<\/a>, OKC might be able to pull it off.<\/p>\n

Aside from Perkins, ESPN\u2019s Michael Wilbon<\/a> also fired off a shot at the Thunder big man, hinting that he had played his last game for the Thunder.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you run it back? No. I hate what happened to Chet Holmgren. He just didn\u2019t post. He had no game. And so now, I believe that it\u2019s very likely Chet Holmgren\u2019s last game in an Oklahoma City uniform.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Wilbon also supposedly subscribed to the idea of Giannis Antetokounmpo joining the Thunder for Chet Holmgren, he did not go into great detail about it. Regardless, much like Perkins, it was evident that even Wilbon thought it was time for the Thunder to move on from Holmgren.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Chet Holmgren Likely To Remain With Thunder<\/p>\n

Needless to say, the current circumstances aren\u2019t in Chet Holmgren\u2019s favor. Despite having a spectacular regular-season campaign, averaging 17.1 points, 8.9 rebounds, and 1.9 blocks per game on 55.7% shooting from the field and 36.2% from three-point range, Holmgren shrank when it mattered most.<\/p>\n

In the WCF, Holmgren averaged 10.7 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks per game, a stark drop-off from his regular-season stats. While this would typically be grounds for questioning a player\u2019s position on the roster, ESPN\u2019s Tim MacMahon<\/a> assured that this would not be the case.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe had an awful series. The circumstances are what they were. He\u2019s not supposed to be the No. 2 option for them offensively,\u201d\u00a0MacMahon noted.\u00a0\u201cBut this idea that it\u2019s time to pull the plug on Chet Holmgren in Oklahoma City, and I can promise you this, Sam Presti will not be taking that advice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Given how valuable he has been for them all season long, it would be rather shocking if Thunder GM Sam Presti used this series as a means of discarding Holmgren. But even if the big man\u2019s place on the roster is secure, the situation is bleak.<\/p>\n

For Holmgren, a performance of this nature could not have come at a worse time. With his five-year, $239 million contract extension kicking in next season<\/a>, the big man finds himself in a position to be scrutinized unless he bounces back strong.<\/p>\n

Since OKC is likely to retain Chet Holmgren, it is safe to assume other players may be at greater risk of being moved. Given that the team will need to shed considerable salary to avoid paying an exorbitant amount in taxes<\/a>, there could be large-scale changes brewing in OKC this summer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Oklahoma City Thunder\u2018s elimination from the playoffs can be attributed to several factors, but Chet Holmgren\u2018s dismal…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":709992,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[64,63,590,85],"class_list":["post-709991","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/709991","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=709991"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/709991\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/709992"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=709991"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=709991"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=709991"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}