Shai Gilgeous-Alexander may be the face of and overall best player on this world champion OKC Thunder team, but he's by no means the final piece to unlocking their full potential.
To Sam Vecenie of The Athletic, that person would be Chet Holmgren.
During a recent episode of the Game Theory Podcast, the Senior Writer took viewers back to the 2022 NBA Draft, when Oklahoma City opted to select Holmgren with the second overall pick over other top-billed prospects like Jabari Smith and Jaden Ivey.
Discussing the perceived reasoning behind their decision-making on the night, Vecenie shared that, if he were a betting man, he'd say that even if the Thunder had the top pick, they still would have coveted the Gonzaga product to, as he put it, assemble a lineup that's best suited to the style of play they wanted to implement.
"I would guess that they would take Chet... at number one over Paolo [Banchero], and it's because they wanted the five-out guy at the five to consistently be able to get to their spots and be able to win in the way that they wanted to play," Vecenie said.
Chet Holmgren at center unlocks desired offensive approach for Thunder
Throughout his career with the Thunder, Holmgren has undoubtedly established himself as one of the most promising young bigs the game has to offer.
As far as their five-out offensive approach is concerned, when the 23-year-old has been on the floor, as a team, Oklahoma City has shot 38.1 and 39.5 percent from distance, respectively, while he's cashed in on 37.2 percent of his own perimeter shots along the way.
It's no secret that having a seven-footer who can stretch all the way out to beyond the arc is a coveted luxury to have within a team's rotation in the modern era of play. Fortunately for the Thunder, they just locked down Holmgren's abilities to do so through the 2030-31 season.
Now, of course, the primary lineup that helped lead the organization to their first championship since 1979 had Chet playing the four and Isaiah Hartenstein serving as the primary five.
However, this structure is likely only to last for just one more season, as I-Hart's third and final year under contract in 2026-27 holds a club-option and, with fears of tax penalties at play, he's expected to be a cap casualty in their efforts to avoid the dreaded second apron.
As a result, following this coming campaign, rotations with Holmgren manning the middle will almost certainly prove to be far more utilized.
Already, this assortment has shown serious upside, as the Thunder ranked in the 81 percentile in effective field goal percentage (56.5), 91 percentile in points per 100 possessions (121.8), and 98 percentile in point differential (+16.1) last year while Chet served as the lone true big on the court.
With health on his side and continued growth in his game, this five-out style with Holmgren at the five has the potential to be truly lethal.