After the OKC Thunder were ousted in seven games by the San Antonio Spurs, big man Chet Homgren became the easy scapegoat. The seven-footer had a disappointing series that culminated in a Game 7 disappearing act, where he shot the ball just twice.
His performance was so bad that many fans and pundits around the league swooped in to suggest a potential trade in order to keep OKC's dynasty hopes alive.
General manager Sam Presti was having none of it, and quickly shut the possibility down. While the refusal to explore alternate avenues was not a popular decision at the time, Holmgren has used the Thunder's first two games of the season to prove Presti right in a massive way.
If anybody had forgotten just how good of a defender Chet was amid his Conference Finals implosion, he has certainly reminded them with his pair of elite stat lines in 2026-27. Thus far, opponents have an abysmal 16.7 percent field goal percentage when being guarded by him, and 11.1 percent from beyond the three-point line. He also posted four blocks in each contest.
The opponents he has guarded are not just nameless faces. He has manned up against the likes of rival Victor Wembanyama, Nikola Jokic, and Aaron Gordon, among others. Given that he's produced these astounding numbers against the league's best interior scorers, it's no secret that Holmgren heard the criticisms this offseason - and he's responding appropriately.
Chet Holmgren is (once again) proving he's the right guy for a Thunder championship run
Thanks in large part to his efforts, OKC has held their first two opponents to just 188 combined points. He's also amped his aggressiveness up on the other end of the floor as well.
The All-Star has only averaged 13.0 points through the first two games, but he has shown an aggression that he lacked last year. Seemingly stifled by Wemby's length in last year's postseason, Holmgren made the necessary adjustments on Tuesday against his counterpart.
Though it equated to just three field goals in eight attempts, his newfound aggression earned him eight free-throw attempts. He made all eight and was the team's third-leading scorer.
Through his efforts, he is proving Sam Presti's genius yet again. As if the world needed a reminder not to question the GM's transactional wisdom, his decision to stay committed to his big man is paying dividends.
All offseason, both he and coach Mark Daigneault praised Holmgren for his intrinsic motivation, claiming that he knows what he needs to work on and will continue to get better. So far, it turns out they were right. Chet looks like a different player, both on the stat sheet and via the eye test, and the Thunder are rolling because of it.
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