It's not hard to find bright spots for the Oklahoma City Thunder this season. Although they lost to the Phoenix Suns on Sunday night, they are still 30-6 and are on pace to have one of the most dominant seasons in NBA history.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has come close to surpassing even the levels of production he posted last year, averaging 31.9 points, 4.5 rebounds and 6.4 assists while shooting 41.9% from beyond the arc. Both Ajay Mitchell and Cason Wallace have taken massive steps forward in their respective roles.
The team is coming together chemistry-wise in a way that sets them up perfectly for another championship run.
However, one underrated development, the emergence of Chet Holmgren as one of the league's premier rim protectors, has gone somewhat unnoticed through this stream of improvement. It could set him up to earn his first Defensive Player of the Year award.
Chet Holmgren is amassing blocks, and the void in the NBA's award voting has cleared the path for a DPOY campaign
The story this season is much the same as 2024-25. Heading into the campaign, Victor Wembanyama of the San Antonio Spurs was the clear favorite to claim Defensive Player of the Year.
Through his first 12 games, Wembanyama averaged 3.6 blocks and 1.1 steals, serving as the anchor of a solid Spurs defense. Yet much like last season, Wembanyama missed a stint of games as a result of injury, and he now has little room for error in regards to his eligibility for awards voting.
Holmgren, meanwhile, has played in 31 of Oklahoma City's 36 games, and he continues to gather impressive defensive performance.
Over his last five games, he has amassed 19 blocks, taking on an enhanced defensive role with Isaiah Hartenstein out and looking elite in doing so. Opponents have shot just 42.8% from the field against him on the season and have shot just 38.1% during this stretch.
The Thunder are yet again the league's best defensive team, but this time Holmgren is playing an even more integral part in their success.
At 7'1", this is the path that Holmgren was expected to take since he came into the league as the second overall pick in 2022. However, he has largely struggled to fully put together that skill-set through his first couple of seasons.
Even this season, he averaged just 1.4 blocks through his first 26 games.
Now, however, the path has been cleared for him to make a run at DPOY, and his performance in this recent stint is justifying his status as the favorite for the award.