It's been less than 24 hours since the OKC Thunder saw their season tragically come to an end, and already, questions surrounding Chet Holmgren's place on the team have run rampant.
The third-year product was having an impressive postseason before getting completely embarrassed by Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs. In seven games, he averaged just 10.7 points on just 7.3 shots per game.
In short, he disappeared when the Thunder needed him most.
Yet, despite this, coach Mark Daigneault believes the panic meter needs to remain in rest mode.
"Every minute Chet Holmgren has been on the team, we've been the one seed in the Western Conference, and that wasn't the case before Chet was healthy," Daigneault said.
Daigneault also provided some much-needed perspective to Thunder fans, expressing how important Holmgren was to OKC's success in the series prior, in which he averaged 20.0 points and 9.8 boards against a lesser Lakers team.
Though this year's conference finals wasn't more memorable for the star big, the former Coach of the Year wanted to remind the NBA world that, aside from the past seven games, the Gonzaga product has been a force to be reckoned with since entering the league.
'Future' Chet Holmgren talk an indication of star's destiny with Thunder
One of the most revealing details of the interview actually came when Daigneault wasn't asked about Chet Holmgren's place with the Thunder, but instead probed on the All-NBA honoree's declining three-point shooting volume.
His answer was direct.
"We know when he shoots good threes, that's an efficient shot for our team, so generating more of that is a priority," Daigneault said.
Obviously, the skipper wouldn't deliberately discuss dealing Holmgren, but to hear him speak on the big man like he is already a part of OKC's 2026-27 roster is telling. It's a clear step toward confirming that OKC still views him as a core piece moving forward.
If Daigneault's words weren't enough, then perhaps superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's echoed sentiment in his own interview just might be.
"The version of Chet that we had today is the worst version we'll ever have, and I've said that literally every time I talk about Chet," Gilgeous-Alexander said.
There's no doubt that the Thunder's franchise player feels like he needs Holmgren on the floor moving forward and only expects him to grow from this latest hardship.
In many ways, he's right. Looking past the series against the Spurs, Holmgren has steadily improved his all-around game every year he's been in the league.
It's clear that, if there are rumors circulating about Chet's future home, they aren't coming from his head coach or teammates.
If it were completely up to the rest of the Thunder roster, it's likely that Holmgren won't end up donning a new uniform anytime soon.
However, the world runs on general manager Sam Presti's time, and fans can only guess at the plans he and the rest of his front office mates have in store for the Western Conference runners-up.
Add us as a preferred source on Google