After a rough series against San Antonio in the Western Conference Finals, many have begun to speculate that the OKC Thunder should consider moving on from Chet Holmgren.
In response to the widespread criticism of the big man, during his end-of-season press conference, GM Sam Presti made sure to highlight that, despite his lackluster performance against the Spurs, he's "one of our guys."
Though to some, this vote of confidence may suggest Chet should be seen as a lock to remain with the club moving forward, as Thunder fans witnessed just a few summers ago, words of praise don't necessarily translate to long-term security.
Just ask Josh Giddey.
Thunder traded Josh Giddey despite public praise a few years back
Let's not forget that Presti also sang a similar tune when discussing point guard Josh Giddey during his annual end-of-season presser following Oklahoma City's ill-fated 2024 playoff run-in with the Dallas Mavericks.
In it, he noted that Giddey had "an up-and-down year," but stressed that it's up to the Thunder to "continue to figure out how to lean into the things he does to help amplify our team."
“The idea is to take the thing — he does a couple of things as a passer that are better than 95 to 99 percent of the people in the NBA — how do we incorporate that in a way that helps our team?”
-Sam Presti on Josh Giddey (2024)
As we all now know, less than a month after making such highly complementary remarks, Presti ultimately decided to trade Giddey to the Chicago Bulls in exchange for veteran Alex Caruso, a player who proved crucial in OKC's title run the very next season.
Now, of course, this is not to suggest history is bound to repeat itself.
After all, unlike Giddey at the time, Holmgren is an established All-Star, All-NBA, and All-Defensive talent who has already inked a lucrative, multi-year deal with the Thunder.
He's also coming off what was objectively the best campaign of his career in 2025-26, where he wrapped up with stellar averages of 17.1 points, 8.9 rebounds, and 1.9 blocks on 55.7 percent shooting from the floor and 36.2 percent shooting from deep.
However, Holmgren's shortcomings on the biggest stage of the year were the most glaring reason the Thunder fell short of clinching their second straight NBA Finals berth.
With this in mind, along with the fact that their opponent in the Spurs and their star player Victor Wembanyama are only bound to get better with time, should OKC feel that moves still need to be made to secure more championships in the not-too-distant future, based on Presti's past, there's a chance that Chet's future with the club isn't as secure as the GM recently made it seem.
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