Gilbert Arenas may have pointed the finger at Chet Holmgren, but that misses the bigger story of Oklahoma City’s loss to San Antonio.
There’s no argument that Holmgren had a rough Western Conference Finals. After an All-NBA season and a dominant first two rounds, he was held to 10.7 points, 7.1 rebounds and 1.1 blocks while shooting 27.3 percent from deep. Victor Wembanyama won that matchup, and he did it decisively.
Still, Holmgren’s poor series was not the main reason the Thunder went down.
The real issue was injuries, a problem that has followed Oklahoma City for the past two seasons. The Thunder managed to survive it in 2024-25 and still win their first NBA Championship of the Sooner State era, even with Holmgren dealing with a right iliac wing fracture and Jaylen Williams playing through a right scapholunate ligament tear.
This season, the luck ran out. Williams, an All-NBA and All-Defensive forward, was available for only 57 minutes in the conference finals. On top of that, Oklahoma City had to finish the last four games without Ajay Mitchell, the player filling Williams’ offensive spot in the pecking order.
Mitchell’s playoff numbers tell part of the story. When he started, the Thunder went 7-0, and he averaged 18.4 points, 4.7 assists, 3.9 rebounds and 1.0 steals per game. Oklahoma City also led the entire NBA in plus-minus at plus-13.7 this postseason.
Even with those absences, the Thunder still pushed San Antonio to Game 7 after going up 3-2 in the series. Had Williams, Mitchell, or both been available at full strength the whole way, it’s difficult to see Oklahoma City falling just eight points short of a second straight NBA Finals trip.
So yes, Holmgren struggled badly. But the bigger reason the Thunder came up short was the loss of the players they could least afford to miss.
In Other News...
Thunder Still Face A Costly Cason Wallace Decision
Cason Wallace has been eligible for a contract extension with the Thunder all summer, and so far there has been no agreement. That has put one of Oklahoma Citys most important young perimeter defenders in a familiar late-offseason holding pattern, with the front office balancing what Wallace already means to the roster against the uncertainty of how to value him over the long term.
The debate appears to center on the gap between his steady regular-season impact and what he offered in the playoffs, where every rotation piece gets magnified. With a deadline looming before the 2026-27 season, this is the kind of decision that can shape the Thunders future payroll as much as its backcourt, and it is still unresolved for now. [Read more 🡒]
Thunder Fans Have A Sneaky Reason To Watch Jalen Duren Free Agency
Jalen Durens restricted path has become one of those summer wrinkles the Thunder have a reason to monitor closely, even if he is not headed to Oklahoma City. The Pistons center is now an unrestricted free agent and still without a contract agreement in place, which has left several teams circling, from the Kings and Lakers to the Rockets, Clippers and Celtics. For a Thunder club watching the Western Conference arms race as much as its own roster, the landing spot matters almost as much as the player.
The catch is simple: Oklahoma City would prefer to see Duren end up with Sacramento. The Kings are viewed as a team with a modest win projection already, so his presence there would not figure to swing the playoff picture much, but any move to one of the other suitors could add another useful piece to a conference rival. It is a small free-agent subplot, but for the Thunder, it is one worth keeping an eye on. [Read more 🡒]
SGAs MVP Buzz Is Slipping For A Reason Thunder Fans Will Love
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander enters the season with the kind of rsum that makes any MVP conversation start with him, after back-to-back awards and a legitimate chance to chase a third straight. Even so, the early buzz around his candidacy has cooled a bit, and that may say less about his game than about how the league now views Oklahoma City as a whole.
The Thunder are still expected to win at a high level, but they no longer have to lean on Gilgeous-Alexander the way some stars do, which is a good problem for them to have. With Chet Holmgren, Jalen Williams, Ajay Mitchell and the rest of the supporting cast helping shoulder the load, the argument for SGA could become less about gaudy individual pressure and more about how comfortably the Thunder keep rolling. [Read more 🡒]