Chet Holmgren Rumors

Kevin Garnett on Victor Wembanyama: One thing I want to speak on is just Wemby's development. If I'm him, I’m working on core strength because when… Paul will tell you, I'm not the biggest guy, right? But he'll tell you when I sit down and post up, can you move me? Paul Pierce: No, he's strong. Garnett: I'm probably one of the strongest people you could ever run up on and look like how I look, but when it came down there to setting up on that block and then pitching and getting it off down there, yeah, I was the best at that. I would love to work with Big Fella, but this generation has a preference on how they want to work out. And I have to respect that. But yeah, I'm open to all… Listen, I'm looking for big years from not just Wemby. I'm looking for big years from Chet Holmgren. I'm looking for a big summer from Zion Williamson. I'm looking for a big summer from Kyrie Irving. I'm looking for Jayson Tatum to have a big summer.

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The Oklahoma City Thunder have received calls from rival teams with trade interest in Chet Holmgren. The Thunder have let those teams know that Holmgren is not available. Holmgren is starting a five-year, $239 million rookie scale extension this coming season. His first-year salary projects to be $41.25 million. This extension mirrors that of Jalen Williams, who deal looks exactly the same as Holmgren's in terms of annual salary.

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Clutch Points: "Julius [Randle] was really good for us in the Denver series... Now we see Chet Holmgren is no good. I can't stand these overreactions... I turn my TV off in the morning during the playoffs. I don't want to hear it." —Chris Finch

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NBA Base: Chris Finch calls out NBA media and fans for "overreactions" on Julius Randle and Chet Holmgren: "Julius was really good for us in the Denver series... Now we see Chet Holmgren is no good. I can't stand these overreactions... I turn my TV off in the morning during the playoffs. I don't want to hear it."

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Joel Lorenzi: Sam Presti on Chet Holmgren: “Chet’s one of our guys. He’s been so impactful, he drives winning on so many different levels for us. … He didn’t have a great series. As I was saying, if you go back and look at some of the greatest players, they all have these moments where they run into defeat and struggle. He’s an underdog. We’ve seen that everywhere. He’s been questioned every time. That’s why he fits here so well. This is a guy that is intrinsically motivated. He doesn’t need things on the internet to drive his improvement.”

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Joel Lorenzi: Sam Presti says his players had every reason to reference injuries in exit meetings — notes OKC's playoff starters from last season played 11 games together, and that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren played 27 games together. "Not one guy raised that as an issue that they wanted to reflect on."

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The Oklahoma City Thunder certainly face some difficult roster decisions over the next few weeks as they weigh the team options they hold for Hartenstein, Dort and Williams, but sources insist that trading Chet Holmgren is not part of the plan. As one close observer to the playoff exit of last season's champions put it to The Stein Line: "He's the best defensive player in the league ... aside from one."

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Draymond Green: "How about this guy need to go back and get in the lab and get better and go work on his game because this guy just exposed all your weaknesses and showed everything that you need to get better at. What about the criticism of he need to get back in the lab this summer and be motivated and get better? Why is it we need to trade him? Like these takes they they just seem to get a little lazy at times to me, like trade him, why is all of a sudden everything always about the trade? Up, trade this guy, trade that guy, trade like, what? I just don't understand it. So, no, I don't expect Chet Holmgren to be traded. They will have to make some moves because I also don't foresee OKC paying $250 million in salary and taxes next year and going into the second apron. I don't see that either. So they will have to make some decisions, maybe Lu Dort, maybe Hartenstein, maybe trade Joe, maybe trade Wiggins. Like they're going to have to make some tough decisions for sure. Maybe they trade them picks because if they if they sign their 12th and 17th pick and they keep those and draft those players, it's going to cost them in the first year those salaries $80 million over the course of those two players. So maybe they do some of that stuff, but the whole trade Chet Holmgren is blasphemous, what he did this year."

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Kevin Garnett: "Chet was the biggest letdown in the playoffs. Moments like this either make you or break you. Okay, so we expected him to be a certain way and he wasn't, right? Now this is your summer to go fix and get yourself better."

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Chandler Parsons on Chet Holmgren: "I do think there is some sort of mental block when it comes to Victor Wembanyama. I really do. I don't think it is like Space Jam, but I don't think he can take two shots in Game 7. You don't play 33 minutes and take two shots. I would rather live and die with going down with Ajay Mitchell out and Jalen Williams out. I would rather have him be 0 for 15 than one for two."

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Run It Back: Lou Williams says the Thunder shouldn't give up on Chet Holmgren. "Lu Dort will be the adjustment." Chandler Parsons: "Good news for OKC is Hartenstein & Dort are their only free agents. Bad news is Harrison Barnes is the only FA on the Spurs."

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After the series concluded, several people were asked about Holmgren’s production. Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault made it very clear that OKC is better with Holmgren. “Every minute Chet Holmgren’s been on the team, we’ve been the 1 seed in the Western Conference,” Daigneault said Sunday, when the team gathered for end-of-season meetings. “And it wasn’t the case before Chet was healthy.” During their exit press conferences Sunday, Holmgren met with the media to assess his season. Of course, he was asked about his performance and struggles during the series. Holmgren felt he was not as aggressive as he normally is.

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Justin Martinez: Chet Holmgren on how much he'll tailor his offseason toward preparing for the Spurs: "I definitely think it's different in terms of I don't think there's another team that has their play style and their personnel. So they're unique in that way. You can't just kind of play like a base normal, you know, this is what we do on an average Tuesday night type of thing. The way you have to attack it is look at the film, look at where you can improve and then work on the things that you need to work on to be ready for any night, no matter who you play."

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Justin Martinez: Chet Holmgren on how he processes losing throughout his basketball career, where he has won so much at every level: "I'd definitely say they don't suck any less. Losing isn't fun, but I definitely feel like I've gotten better at being able to kind of take a loss for what it is and look at it objectively rather than emotionally and try to figure it out and work forward from there."

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