Oklahoma City has been praised all summer, but one of its stars is being overlooked going into next season.
After winning the NBA title, everything seemed perfect in Oklahoma City. The Thunder re-signed their Big 3 to long-term deals and are bringing back all but one player from last season’s 15-man roster. Entering the season as heavy favorites to repeat as NBA champions, the Thunder are in arguably the best position of any team since the Golden State Warriors in the late 2010s.
That status was confirmed again in NBA.com’s annual GM survey from John Schuhmann. 80% of GMs picked the Thunder to repeat as champions, 87% picked Oklahoma City as the top seed in the West and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander landed near the top of almost every question about star players.
Fresh off his championship run that included a 40-point performance in the NBA Finals, Jalen Williams was even in the mix for the league’s best small forward and most versatile player. However, not all of Oklahoma City’s Big 3 earned votes, as Chet Holmgren didn’t make a single appearance at any point.
After spending a large chunk of last season sidelined, it could make some sense for him to be overlooked. However, after an incredible postseason run anchoring the Thunder’s defense and capping it off with an NBA record five blocks in Game 7 of the Finals, Holmgren clearly has some doubters to prove wrong again next season.
While it’s understandable for Holmgren not to be on the list for categories like best center and there are some other great candidates for questions about breakout players, Holmgren not being listed in any defensive capacity is a bit mind-boggling. After averaging 2.3 blocks per game throughout the first two years of his career and 1.9 blocks throughout the playoffs last season, Holmgren couldn’t even get a passing mention for best interior defender or best defender.
While it makes sense for Victor Wembanyama to dominate those categories, he was far from a unanimous selection. With Holmgren entering as second in most Defensive Player of the Year odds, it seems strange to see guys like Rudy Gobert, Evan Mobley and even Ivica Zubac get votes in those categories but not the Thunder’s interior anchor.
Maybe Holmgren’s raw stats won’t be as eye-catching as some of those picked above him next season, but when the playoffs come around, it’s hard to imagine many defenders being as impactful as him.