Chet Holmgren isn’t pretending the Thunder’s offseason shake-up was easy to swallow.
Oklahoma City spent the summer maneuvering around a looming luxury tax hit and the possibility of crossing into the second apron, and Sam Presti managed to keep the team’s core intact. But that came with a cost: the Thunder had to move on from several important role players from the 2025 championship team, including Lu Dort, Aaron Wiggins and Isaiah Joe.
Holmgren, Oklahoma City’s starting center, recently opened up about what that felt like when he spoke with Ben Golliver of ESPN. After initially reacting to Dort’s departure on social media with a photo of Dort and a series of crossed-fingers emojis, Holmgren went further this time, comparing the experience to “like losing a family member.”
“That’s how the business of this game goes,” Holmgren said at a USAB Foundation charity event in Southern California. “No team, all 17 guys, sticks together forever. But it doesn’t make it hurt less when you see guys go.”
Even with the emotional side of it, Holmgren said he’s pulling for the teammates who are moving on.
“At the same time, I’m excited for [Dort and Wiggins] and the opportunity they’re going to have in Atlanta. I’m happy for whatever major milestones they reach over there.”
He also made it clear he trusts the direction the organization is taking.
“I have complete trust in our team and the moves they make,” Holmgren added. “I trust what they’re doing is to get it right. It’s my job to be in the gym all summer to get my stuff right.”
The Thunder’s summer reset comes after a painful finish to their title defense. Following the 2025 championship, Oklahoma City fell to the Spurs in the 2026 Western Conference Finals, and Holmgren said that defeat reinforced a lesson the team had already lived through once.
“We learned the same lesson [in 2026] as the year that we won it: It was almost more of a reminder of just how hard it is to accomplish, and how much goes into it,” Holmgren said.
“There is no guarantee. You can put in all the work and still come up short.
At the end of the day, you have to be okay with putting in the work with no guaranteed outcome. We came up short this year.
That doesn’t change the process,” Holmgren said in conclusion.
For Holmgren, the offseason has brought both the sting of saying goodbye and the reminder that nothing in this league is handed out. The Thunder are moving forward with a different roster, and he’s carrying the same message with him: keep working, keep trusting the process, and keep pushing toward another run.
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