The NBA schedule reveal is officially underway, and it's already clear that the Oklahoma City Thunder will once again constantly be in the national spotlight.
The schedule has already shown that the Thunder will play many of their biggest rivals on the brightest stages, with opening week having them slated to square off against the San Antonio Spurs and the Denver Nuggets.
Right out of the gates, OKC will have to face the two premier big men in the NBA, Nikola Jokić and Victor Wembanyama. With much of the Thunder offseason talk revolving around the postseason disappointment of Chet Holmgren, this will be his perfect opportunity to display his potential growth.
After recent offseason flashes shown from Holmgren, fans' hopes are high for another leap, but his play in the team's first two games will be an excellent indicator of what the 2026-27 season has in store for the All-Star.
How a Chet Holmgren leap changes the Thunder's outlook vs. Spurs
An evolution of Holmgren's game, primarily on the offensive end, will shift the tide against the team's rivals, especially the Spurs.
In the 2026 Western Conference Finals, the newly minted All-NBA member's field goal attempts per game were 7.3, taking four fewer shots than his regular-season average.
This lack of aggression on offense, combined with his inability to defend Wemby one-on-one consistently, led to Holmgren registering a negative NET rating in the series.
Considering his contract, expectations, and talent, this level of ineffectiveness is inexcusable and likely cannot be sustained if OKC wants to be champions once more.
To be the true assumed favorites against San Antonio in the playoffs, Holmgren will have to sustain his non-Spurs regular-season play at the very least.
Even this retention of play will be a momentous gain for the Thunder. His ability to effectively stretch the floor, be a roll man, and an occasional on-ball scorer will foil much of San Antonio's defensive game plan.
The Spurs' lack of bigs to match up with him will presumably either force Wemby to switch onto him, negating his roaming talents, or constantly have an undersized defender on Holmgren.
On the defensive side for Holmgren, being able to negate nonstop backdowns and drives, or being a more aggressive help defender, will potentially be the closest thing he has to negate Wemby.
Holmgren showing improvement in at least some of these aspects against the San Antonio Spurs on opening night will help change the outlook of a potential playoff rematch.
Thunder big's offensive refinement could potentially bury Nuggets rivalry
There's no denying the OKC Thunder have gotten the better of the Nuggets the past two seasons, and a Holmgren offensive jump could change this from a rivalry to Thunder domination.
The big man has fared well against Denver, averaging 14.6 points, 10.5 rebounds, and 2.3 blocks since the 2024-25 season. Though this matchup hasn't been a disaster like the Spurs, there is still much room for improvement.
In the past two seasons, Holmgren has shot just 21.6 percent from deep against Denver. Even with the smaller sample size, this isn't a coincidence; his hesitancy as a jump shooter has often hurt his offensive game.
This is amplified against the Nuggets' lengthy wing defenders, such as Cameron Johnson or Aaron Gordon.
A quicker, more confident jump shot has been anticipated for years with Holmgren, and his offseason clips indicate the weakness is being addressed.
A sure-fire jumper during opening week will be a strong start to the season for Chet Holmgren and will help make the Thunder talent overwhelming for the Denver Nuggets to keep up with.
Add us as a preferred source on Google