The Oklahoma City Thunder have awarded forward Chet Holmgren a $239M rookie max contract which could be worth as much as $250M when all is said and done.
The fully guaranteed deal is five years in length, and locks up the 7’1″ big man for the foreseeable future. Holmgren averaged 15pts/8reb/2ast/2.2blk per contest last season across 32 regular season games. The 23 year old was sidelined for three months after sustaining a pelvic injury in November.
Originally selected 2nd overall by the Thunder in 2022, Holmgren played a pivotal role in the franchise’s first NBA championship this summer. He’ll now join teammates Jaylin Williams, Ajay Mitchell, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on the list of players who have committed long term to the franchise in recent months.
Holmgren is already amongst the best defenders in the NBA at only 23 years old, providing elite level rim protection, while also shooting 37.9% from beyond the arc. The fact that OKC was comfortable handing out the kind of value they did shows that they’re confident that the big man’s past injuries were isolated incidents and not a sign of wear and tear on Holmgren’s body.
Nevertheless, detractors were quick to point out that the team has now handed out $535M between Holmgren and Gilgeous-Alexander’s new deals, and still have Jalen Williams to extend as well. This normally wouldn’t be an issue for a big market team like the Lakers or Celtics, but with OKC being amongst the league’s smallest, if things go south, the team could face some tough financial decisions down the road.
However with one of the best seasons in NBA history in terms of total wins, and a banner to raise to the rafters this fall, there will be few fans at the Paycom Center complaining about locking up their homegrown stars for the long-haul.
Photo: Hutchdoesstuff. This file is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.