The Oklahoma City Thunder have one of the most expensive rosters in basketball. That’s the price of winning. When things go well, guys want to get paid, and teams have to pay them. This summer, the Thunder learned the hard way what that means, shedding salary and trading good players. But when it comes to Chet Holmgren, they need to stand firm.
Teams around the NBA are going to want to pry Holmgren away from the Thunder. He’s one of the best defenders in the NBA and clearly capable of contributing to a championship. Peter O’Keefe of Blue Man Hoop even wrote an article detailing why the Golden State Warriors should try to swoop in and trade for Holmgren.
No matter the CBA situation, the Thunder should keep their Big 3 together. That includes Holmgren. They already may have to play keep-away on the trade market, declining all calls for him.
Thunder may already have to start declining trade calls for Chet Holmgren
This summer, the Thunder got their first taste of just how brutal the second apron can be. They had to ship out a few quality players in salary-dump moves in order to stay under the mark.
They traded Lu Dort and Aaron Wiggins to the Atlanta Hawks in separate trades, and in another deal, they sent Isaiah Joe to the Detroit Pistons. All three moves were made in order to cut salary from their books.
As the years go on, the Thunder will inevitably have to make more money moves. That’s just the nature of the current CBA. But trading one of Holmgren, Jalen Williams, or Shai Gilgeous-Alexander should be off the table.
Holmgren struggled in the playoffs this year. His offense fell off a cliff, and he was a virtual no-show at times. But that doesn’t change how elite a defender he is. Nor does it erase his value completely.
He is still an integral part of what the Thunder are doing. Trading him makes no sense, even if teams are already circling him as a potential target as soon as this season.
As much as the second apron may try to get in the way of the Thunder keeping their Big 3 together, they need to hold strong. They should not trade Holmgren, and they definitely shouldn’t trade him this season.
Maybe the Thunder’s game of Holmgren keep-away is already starting. They’re going to have to decline some calls inquiring about trading for the big man.
That’s okay. They just need to hold firm.
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