Oklahoma City Thunder general manager Sam Presti said Chet Holmgren is “one of our guys” after an ugly Western Conference Finals loss to the San Antonio Spurs, defending the center’s rough showing and dismissing talk of trading him.
When the Oklahoma City Thunder wrapped up their Western Conference Finals run against the San Antonio Spurs with a Game 7 loss at home, the final numbers didn’t just sting. They raised an immediate question: was Chet Holmgren still the same player who helped deliver last season’s championship?
In a lengthy end-of-season interview on Monday, Thunder general manager Sam Presti met that doubt head-on. Asked about Holmgren after his uneven series—when he looked overmatched at times against Victor Wembanyama—Presti offered a blunt message of confidence.
“Chet’s one of our guys,” Presti said.
Presti acknowledged what fans saw. Holmgren had just four points on two shots in OKC’s Game 7 loss at home.
“He’s been so impactful. He drives winning on so many different levels for us,” Presti said. “We were sweeping our way to the Western Conference Finals primarily because of his efforts in those series.”
Then came the pivot: Presti didn’t deny the last series was not Holmgren’s best, but he argued it shouldn’t define him.
“All that to say he didn’t have a great series in the last series,” Presti continued. “But if you go back and look at some of the greatest players in the game. they all have these moments where they run into defeat or struggle. That’s what makes them great players is that they’re able to continue to move on from that and improve.”.
The defense also ran through what Holmgren has already shown in bigger moments. Presti pointed to Holmgren’s impact last season and how he responded afterward.
“Two things about Chet I’d also add. One, he’s an underdog,” Presti said. “We’ve seen that everywhere. He’s being questioned all the time. I watched that guy when he was in high school; people had all kinds of questions and doubts. That’s nothing new to this guy. He’s used to being an underdog. That’s why he fits here so well.”.
Presti said the other key trait is how Holmgren handles pressure.
“The other thing about him is this is a guy that is intrinsically motivated,” Presti continued. “He doesn’t need people questioning him or things on the internet to drive his improvement. The best example of that is we won the Finals last year, won the championship. He was dominant in Game 7 defensively and through a lot of the playoffs. Then, look at how much better he got over the summer. Came into the start of the season with no Jalen (Williams) and he was significantly improved. That’s coming off a Finals win.”.
“He doesn’t need somebody to nudge him, he doesn’t need somebody to question him. It’s just kind of how he’s wired. So, I’m not really that concerned about him. This is part of the path that we’re on. The good thing is you get to confront those things again and continue to improve. and I’m confident that he’ll be ready to go. ” Presti said.
Holmgren’s season had plenty of evidence behind Presti’s insistence. He was a key part of the Thunder’s championship team last season. In 2025-26. it was his best regular season yet: Holmgren averaged 17.1 points. 8.9 rebounds. and 1.9 blocks per game on 55.7% shooting. earning his first All-Star selection and an All-NBA Third Team nod. He also finished as the runner-up for Defensive Player of the Year and was named to the All-Defensive First Team.
Through the first two rounds of the playoffs, Holmgren played the way Oklahoma City hoped he would, matching the regular-season version of himself. The Thunder swept the Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles Lakers to reach the Western Conference Finals.
Against the Spurs, the tone changed. Holmgren looked nothing like his usual self. especially on offense. and Wembanyama—described as taking matchups with Holmgren personally—appeared to expose weaknesses in that matchup. Adding to the difficulty, the Thunder had to play the majority of the series without Jalen Williams and Ajay Mitchell.
The contrast became impossible to ignore when comparing production across series. Versus the Suns, Holmgren put up 17.3 points on 38.5% shooting, 7.3 rebounds, and 2.3 blocks per game. Against the Lakers, his line was 20.9 points on 48.1% shooting, 8.1 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks per game. In the Western Conference Finals versus the Spurs, his numbers dropped to 10.7 points on 20.1% shooting, 7.1 rebounds, and 1.6 blocks per game.
Those steep declines helped fuel talk right after the Game 7 loss—whether the Thunder should trade Holmgren. It was framed as a knee-jerk reaction, tied to how timid and irrelevant Holmgren looked at times in the series.
Presti’s comments on Monday come at a moment when Oklahoma City is also facing a stark financial reality, but his focus stayed on the larger question: whether the core should remain intact.
Earlier this month. Jake Fischer reported that the Thunder are more likely to make moves around the margins than break up its core of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Williams. and Holmgren. Presti’s defense of Holmgren served as an additional sign that he doesn’t see the Spurs series as a turning point that requires drastic action—only the kind of defeat he says elite players learn from.
The immediate future is still clear in one respect: Oklahoma City will likely keep encountering Wembanyama and the Spurs over the next few years. Presti’s stance now is equally clear, too. He’s betting that Holmgren can absorb the criticism. improve. and move forward—because. in his telling. that’s exactly what Holmgren has always been wired to do.
Oklahoma City Thunder Sam Presti Chet Holmgren San Antonio Spurs Victor Wembanyama Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Jalen Williams Ajay Mitchell Western Conference Finals