Chet Holmgren Must Continue His Progression Next Season

The Thunder big man had his best season ever and will now need to continue to hone his craft.

May 28, 2026; San Antonio, Texas, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder center Chet Holmgren (7) practices before game six of the western conference finals for the 2026 NBA playoffs at Frost Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Dunn-Imagn Images | Daniel Dunn-Imagn Images

The Thunder’s young star big man will need to step up once again next season. 

The Oklahoma City Thunder are looking forward to next season after falling short this season in the Western Conference Finals. OKC seemed to have a great season after they claimed the best record in the NBA, and had homecourt advantage for the whole playoffs. However, after falling short this season, it seems that Oklahoma City will need another push to get itself back to the biggest stage of the NBA Finals. 

Thunder fans can speculate that the conference finals could have been very different if Ajay Mitchell and Jalen Williams had played, but OKC can’t rely on “what if” scenarios. The truth is, Oklahoma City still had the tools necessary to win the conference finals; they must now just be utilized. One area where a Thunder player must rise to the occasion to be properly used is OKC's star big man.

Chet Holmgren had the best regular season of his career this year. He averaged 17.1 points on 55.7% shooting while also averaging 8.9 rebounds per game. All of these were career highs for the Thunder center and were steps in the right direction for the big man’s future. 

Holmgen’s play was enough to get him recognized for multiple accomplishments this year, as he was named to the All-NBA Defensive First Team, the All-NBA Third Team, the All-Star Game roster and even finished second in Defensive Player of the Year voting. 

All of these accomplishments were exactly what OKC needed to compete once again this past season, but the big man will now have to come through when it matters most for OKC. 

Holmgren absolutely choked when it came to competing in the Western Conference Finals for the Thunder. He averaged 14.9 points in the postseason, almost three points less than his regular-season total. Additionally, Holmgren only scored over this mark one time in the conference finals and was completely helpless against Spurs star Victor Wembanyama. 

Now, as Holmgren has continued to progress year after year, the Oklahoma City Thunder will need him to continue to compete next year, especially in the playoffs. Holmgren playing a good game could have changed the trajectory of the NBA season and could have meant that the Thunder was the team still alive. 

Now that the Thunder are looking for revenge, OKC will need the big man to come through next season, and will need the best version of himself for OKC to take the title once again.