When it comes to this OKC Thunder team, the lion's share of media attention generally seems to gravitate toward the likes of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams. After all, they are the club's two lone established All-Star and All-NBA talents.
However, when it comes to true Oklahoma City fans, it's well understood that Chet Holmgren is viewed as being right up there with them as far as individual importance to the club's success is concerned, and, during a recent episode of The Athletic NBA Daily, Alex Speers perfectly summed up just how vital he was during their 2025 NBA Championship run.
Chet Holmgren makes OKC Thunder a completely different team
While acknowledging that his offensive production may have warranted some criticism during the postseason, as he shot just 46.2 percent from the floor and a putrid 29.7 percent from beyond the arc, Speers noted that, from an overall standpoint, it's hard not to notice just how much better the Thunder are with Holmgren on the floor.
"I think [Holmgren's offensive struggles] really overlooks how good he was defensively and how good the Thunder have been on the court when he's played. Just in last year's playoffs... OKC was a +7.6 when he was on the court. That was the highest among any OKC player who played at least 500 minutes in the playoffs. In 23 playoff games, opponents shot 53.2 percent within six feet of the rim when he was on the court... This team has been so good when Chet is on the court," Speers said.
Taking things a step further with the deep data dives, per Cleaning the Glass, the 2024-25 Thunder ranked in the 92 percentile in effective field goal percentage, the 93 percentile in points per 100 possessions, the 95 percentile in opponent points per 100 possessions, and the 98 percentile in point differential with Holmgren on the floor.
On top of all this, when the big man dropped 19 or more points last year, Oklahoma City boasted a record of 12-1 during the regular season and 18-3 overall if you include playoff action.
What's important to remember is that, for most of last year's campaign, Holmgren was either hobbled by a right iliac wing fracture or struggling to shake off the rust that formed after three months of dormancy forced by the ailment.
In actuality, the 23-year-old played just nine fully healthy games and posted stellar, all-around averages of 18.2 points, 9.2 rebounds, 2.2 assists, and 2.9 blocks on 51.9 percent shooting from the floor and 40.0 percent shooting from beyond the arc in such outings.
With this in mind, Speers is not only convinced that Oklahoma City is a much better team with a healthy Holmgren in the fold, but, assuming he can remain on the hardwood, he sees him making the biggest leap of all Thunder players in 2025-26, especially if he can tap into his pre-injury scoring production.
So, too, should the rest of Thunder nation!