For once, the OKC Thunder being viewed as a long shot to accomplish a widely coveted goal should actually be viewed as a positive, especially for Chet Holmgren.
In a recent episode of his eponymous podcast, The Ringer's Zach Lowe revealed that rival executives around the league believe Oklahoma City to be long shots to strike a trade for Milwaukee Bucks cornerstone Giannis Antetokounmpo this summer, saying: "Everybody, every GM, every scout I've talked to, would be pretty surprised if they veered in that direction."
By no means should this come as a surprise to Thunder fans.
Outside of a few small exceptions, such as the 2017 deal for Paul George, throughout Sam Presti's tenure leading the charge, OKC has regularly shied away from pursuing trades for big-name stars.
While the report by Lowe may be disheartening for those clamoring for a splashy shakeup this summer after the club's Western Conference Final elimination, it should bring a sigh of relief to Holmgren.
Since their Game 7 ouster, the big man has been the one receiving the most criticism for his lackluster playoff performance, and, in a hypothetical deal for Giannis or any other blockbuster trade, he would almost certainly serve as the biggest outbound trade chip.
With Lowe's report, it seems Chet should feel confident that his standing with the Thunder is rock solid.
Despite playoff upset, Thunder shouldn't look to make major shakeups
All this talk about how the Thunder should consider making some sort of significant move this offseason following their ill-fated playoff run is truly baffling.
The fact of the matter is, OKC didn't lose to the Spurs because of a lack of talent, but rather because of a lack of health.
For the vast majority of the series, they were forced to play without two of their top weapons in Jalen Williams (hamstring) and Ajay Mitchell (calf) in the fold.
This ended up forcing Chet to take on second-in-command duties behind superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, which, clearly, is far from his natural role in the pecking order. In such a role, he averaged just 10.7 points in the conference finals and posted just four points in their close-out game last Saturday.
In a perfect world, the All-Star is the third offensive option behind Shai and J-Dub, while devoting the majority of his efforts toward anchoring their top-ranked defense.
Yet, despite all these hardships, the Thunder still ended up going the distance against the Spurs, and only lost by eight points in Game 7.
Had health been on their side, there's a good chance Oklahoma City would find itself playing in a second-straight NBA Finals -- that's certainly what Jalen Williams seems to think, anyway.
Yes, losing is never fun, but given the way they went out, it's easy to see why Presti and company are doubtful to pursue a major move like trading for Giannis.
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