After getting knocked out of the playoffs by the San Antonio Spurs, numerous the OKC Thunder dialog has centered across the weak play of Chet Holmgren. Properly, the Thunder did one thing about it and drafted towering middle Aday Mara, that means Holmgren must be frightened about his spot.
Via a lot of the 2025-2026 season, the expectation from many corners of the league was that OKC was going to repeat. They saved all of their key gamers in place and even added Jared McCain. One other title appeared all however inevitable. That was till Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs arrived.
It wasn’t a simple collection for San Antonio by any stretch of the creativeness, however the Spurs finally took down the reigning champs 4 video games to 3. They’d go on to face the New York Knicks, who received the NBA Championship 4 video games to 1. It wasn’t the ending Wemby was on the lookout for.
A giant a part of the explanation the Thunder did not get the chance to lose to the Knicks within the finals was Holmgren. He had a tricky playoffs total however principally fell aside towards Wembanyama. There have been instances that Holmgren seemed genuinely afraid of the French phenom. That is a foul scene.
Adam Mara is coming for Chet Holmgren’s spot
As anticipated, the Thunder have begun to deal with this challenge via the draft. They used their twelfth decide to pick out Aday Mara, a 7’3″ middle recent off profitable a nationwide championship with the Michigan Wolverines. He is huge, sturdy, and might ball, making him an unimaginable addition to the roster.
The truth is that Mara has the dimensions and ability to face as much as Wemby and maintain the road. As soon as he will get his NBA legs below him, Mara might be a pressure to be reckoned with. It will not take lengthy, as he has 4 years of faculty expertise at UCLA and Michigan in addition to skilled expertise in Spain.
That can go away Holmgren questioning how he matches right into a Thunder staff with a dominant pressure like Mara on it. Holmgren is about to start out a five-year extension price a median of just about $48 million per 12 months. With Mara on board on a rookie contract, the Thunder would possibly transfer the costly Holmgren alongside.
In the event that they commerce Holmgren, which might be on OKC’s minds after his weak WCF efficiency, that might allow them to take a look at retaining the companies of Isaiah Hartenstein and/or Lu Dort. And if it would not occur now, the expansion of Mara might pressure Holmgren out. He has to choose up the tempo ASAP.
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