OKC Thunder's Chet Holmgren Among Most Valuable NBA Contracts in 2025-26

The Oklahoma City Thunder have finished off another remarkable regular season.

While reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was the key catalyst to OKC's success, the Thunder saw impressive performances from a few other players on the roster this year, as well.

2024-25 All-Star, All-NBA and All-Defense honoree Jalen Williams missed most of the 2025-26 regular season, only appearing in 33 games, leaving other members of the team to pick up the slack.

Second-year guard Ajay Mitchell enjoyed a breakout campaign, while former No. 2 overall pick Chet Holmgren earned his first All-Star appearance. Holmgren's emergence was crucial for the Thunder, who won 64 games despite a number of injuries to key pieces of the team.

Holmgren, though, was healthy for most of the season, playing 69 games and averaging 17.1 points, 8.9 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.9 blocks per game while shooting 55.7% from the field, 36.2% from 3-point range and 79.2% from the free throw line.

While his numbers aren't eye-popping, Holmgren's impact on both ends of the floor, especially defensively, was noticable for the Thunder. As a result of his performance, the 23-year-old was one of the most valuable contracts in the NBA this season, according to data from BBall Index.

According to the website's LEBRON metric, Holmgren was one of seven players across the league this season to outperform his salary by more than $30 million.

7 players out performed their salaries by more than 30 million this season according to LEBRON

+42 mil - Wemby
+34 mil - Payton Pritchard
+33 mil - Jalen Duren
+32 mil -Neemias Queta
+32 mil - Chet Holmgren
+31 mil - Donovan Clingan
+31 mil - Derrick White
— BBall Index (@The_BBall_Index) April 12, 2026

Victor Wembanyama took the top spot on that list, followed by Payton Pritchard, Jalen Duren and Neemias Queta, while Holmgren rounded out the top 5. Donovan Clingan and Derrick White were the only other players to qualify.

According to BBall Index's website, the LEBRON metric measures, "a player’s contributions using the box score (weighted using boxPIPM’s weightings stabilized using Offensive Archetypes) and advanced on/off calculations (using Luck-Adjusted RAPM methodology) for a holistic evaluation of player impact per 100 possessions on-court."

This season is the last on Holmgren's rookie contract, meaning the All-Star and likely All-Defense honoree earned less than $14 million this season. The standout big man signed a contract extension last summer, and will make more than $41 million during the 2026-27 season.

After struggling on offense in the playoffs last season following his return from a significant hip injury, Holmgren should be able to contribute more this time around.

Despite his struggles on offense, Holmgren was still a key part of OKC's title run, anchoring a strong defense that pushed Mark Daigneault's team to a championship despite lackluster 3-point shooting.

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