The Oklahoma City Thunder will need to find a new normal in 2026-27.
With the extensions for Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren kicking in, they were forced to move off of Luguentz Dort, Aaron Wiggins, and Isaiah Joe in separate trades. While those pieces are certainly replaceable, they were long-standing members of the rotation in Oklahoma City.
Cason Wallace and Ajay Mitchell will need to step into Dort's place. Jared McCain and perhaps even Bennett Stirtz will need to help account for the loss of perimeter shooting with the departures of Joe and Wiggins.
In short, the Thunder will be counting upon a replenishing of their depth this season to maintain their dominant stature.
But the impetus of these moves ultimately falls upon one of their stars— Chet Holmgren. With the clear availability issues that Williams faces and the roster as a whole facing a potential decline in depth, Oklahoma City desperately needs Holmgren to make a leap on the offensive end.
He's the piece that can make the difference for a championship team like the Thunder.
Chet Holmgren needs to round out his game in 2026-27
Holmgren has already established himself as a defensive star. He finished second in voting for Defensive Player of the Year behind Victor Wembanyama last season. Although his pure production was down in terms of blocks and steals, he was sixth among all players and third among all centers in estimated defensive plus-mins, per Dunks & Threes.
Opponents shot just 42.7% from the field last season with Holmgren as the primary defender, and the Thunder were 6.9 points better per 100 possessions when Holmgren was on the court.
But his offensive weaknesses were on full display when the knife hit the grindstone in the playoffs. He had his fair share of impressive performance during the regular season— including his 30-point performance against the Los Angeles Clippers in the final matchup of the campaign. But with Williams out, the Thunder needed Holmgren to deliver as a primary offensive option against the San Antonio Spurs.
Instead, he was heavily limited by the Spurs' staunch defensive attack, averaging just 10.7 points and shooting 27.3% from beyond the arc across the seven games of that series.
Under the modern CBA, teams that pay more than one star are inevitably required to strip back their depth in order to accommodate those contracts. Now that Holmgren is no longer on his rookie deal, he is one of those stars, and the Thunder must depend upon him accordingly.
If Williams or another integral starter needs to miss time, Holmgren needs to be able to take the ball into his hands consistently and get to his spots on the interior. As much as we can talk about what the depth will look like next season, that's the development that will complete this Thunder roster.
If Holmgren is able to take the leap offensively, everything else has a much greater chance of falling into place.
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