The Oklahoma City Thunder may eventually be forced into a tough roster call, and Chet Holmgren is now being floated as a possible piece that could move if the money gets tight.
That’s the backdrop in Oklahoma City as the NBA’s new CBA rules make it harder to keep a young core intact for the long haul. The Thunder could be staring at a point where preserving the group means choosing one major contract path over another. In that scenario, Holmgren has surfaced as a name to watch.
The Athletic’s Zach Harper pointed to the pressure coming from the second apron and suggested the issue could come to a head soon.
“The second apron is rearing its ugly head with OKC in real time and will continue to do so as long as the Thunder keep that big three together. They might have to make a big-time decision soon. If Holmgren continues to struggle against Victor Wembanyama when it matters most, then maybe that decision becomes easier,” The Athletic’s Zach Harper wrote.
One possible framework comes from Detroit Bad Boys’ Robbie Bettelon, who laid out a three-team trade that would send Holmgren to Detroit, Jalen Duren to the New Orleans Pelicans, and a pair of pieces to Oklahoma City.
“DET gets: Chet Holmgren and Jordan Hawkins. NOP gets: Jalen Duren. OKC gets: Trey Murphy III and Duncan Robinson,” Bettelon wrote.
For the Thunder, that kind of deal would let them keep the rest of their core while adding Trey Murphy III, a young wing who brings shooting and scoring. Murphy is also on a $112 million deal with the Pelicans.
Detroit’s side of the equation would mean moving on from Duren, whose contract situation has already made him a possible sign-and-trade candidate. Tracy McGrady has also urged caution when it comes to paying Duren at the top of the market.
“You can't give him the super-max," said McGrady." I think he needed another year on the level that he was trending before it was considered.
He deserves to be paid. But that super max?
Phenomenal regular season 19 and 10, but the drop-off to 10 and 8 in the playoffs…I get it, the regular season. But our eyes saw that this year in the playoffs.
They see the same thing that we witnessed. And it's tough, man, because it was so bad and it just put him in a bad, bad situation."
If Holmgren ever became available, the move could give him a new setting and a fresh chance with another contender. In this proposed structure, multiple teams would be reshaped by one major decision, with Oklahoma City’s financial future sitting at the center of it.
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For Williams, the next step is as much about stability as production. The Thunder need him to keep building on what he has shown while staying on the floor and delivering the kind of consistency that makes a max-level investment feel secure, even as Holmgrens offensive growth remains part of the same larger equation. In a market like this, the front office is not only asking whether the ceiling is high enough, but whether the pieces around it can be preserved long enough to matter. [Read more 🡒]