When polling those around the NBA, the general consensus appears to be that Chet Holmgren is the third-best player on the Oklahoma City Thunder. It's far from a slight, as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the reigning MVP and scoring champion, and Jalen Williams is an All-NBA and All-Defense honoree.
It only took the first quarter of the Thunder's 2025-26 regular season opener for the NBA to be reminded of how terrifying it is that Holmgren could be the third-best player on any roster.
Holmgren, 23, was nothing short of dominant during the opening frame of Oklahoma City's clash with the Houston Rockets. In nine minutes of action, he scored 15 effortless points, shooting a perfect 6-of-6 from the field and 3-of-3 at the free throw line.
Holmgren even went directly at former Thunder superstar and four-time scoring champion Kevin Durant with a move that the future Hall of Famer might as well have taught him.
"KD may have taught him that one this summer"
— Hot Hand Theory (@HotHandTheory) October 21, 2025
The scariest part about OKC's dominance last year is that they have multiple paths to improvement. A notable example would be Chet Holmgren's offense. Here he does to KD what KD has done to 100s of defenders.pic.twitter.com/USfBsAfEMI
Matched up against one of the best defensive teams in the Association, Holmgren offered a firm reminder of why he was the No. 2 overall selection in the 2022 NBA Draft.
Chet Holmgren drops 15 points in the first quarter of season opener
Holmgren has made no shortage of waves early in his career. After missing the entire 2022-23 campaign, he accumulated averages of 16.1 points, 7.9 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 2.3 blocks, 0.7 steals, and 1.5 three-point field goals made per game between 2023-24 and 2024-25.
Beyond the numbers, Holmgren has emerged as the prototypical 3-and-D big, capable of protecting the paint and spacing the floor in equally as impressive manners.
During the 2025 NBA Playoffs, Holmgren proved just how dominant he can be at times. He teamed with Isaiah Hartenstein to play exceptional defense against Nikola Jokic, limiting him in ways that disrupted the Denver Nuggets' gameplan during a seven-game second round series.
Many have been waiting for Holmgren to make the leap as a scorer, however, given how physically dominant and skilled he is.
The leap seems to be well underway in the earliest stages of the 2025-26 regular season. He's entered the new campaign with a more assertive mentality, perhaps fueled by Williams' injury-related absence and Oklahoma City's need for scoring.
Regardless of what the impetus proves to be, Holmgren is embracing his unique combination of size and skill, and putting an elite defensive team in the blender.
If Holmgren embraces how impossible he makes it for an opposing team to adequately defend him, the Thunder should reach an even higher level of dominance. That'd be quite a feat considering Oklahoma City won a championship and 68 regular season games in 2024-25.
No matter how he opts to play this season, there's simply no way around the incredible luxury of having a player like Holmgren as a third star.