Chet Holmgren's Offseason Improvements to Show in Coming Season

Chet Holmgren constantly improves. His work ethic is thick, steadfast.

It's one of the things Sam Presti and the Thunder organization latched on, one of the reasons he was picked over Jabari Smith Jr. back in 2022. It's something that sets him apart from others, and it gives him a major advantage which has helped him through this journey in the NBA.

Even after suffering an injury to sideline him for his rookie season before it even started, Holmgren was putting up shots in a boot and making necessary strides whenever possible. He can be likened to Kevin Garnett, a mentor of his, having the grit and tenacity to silence doubters and focus internally.

That's essential to be an OKC Thunder, every player on this team has an advanced work ethic—as virtually every player does in the NBA, but this team is different. They do it as a unit, but also individually. And as a result, it helped the team land its first NBA title this past season. The work doesn't stop there.

Holmgren's been working steadily throughout the offseason, and we can expect great improvement come this October as he enters his third season in the league. After drops several averages from his rookie to sophomore seasons, his pelvic injury a year ago stunted the serious momentum he held at the beginning of the year up until early November. But he picked it back up at the end of the season, getting his feet wet by February but only ended up competing in 32 games on the year.

Though, he got his bearings and helped Oklahoma City navigate the path to a Larry O'Brien trophy.

This next season is his to take, and he has plenty of room to improve despite being a massive defender for the Thunder throughout this past postseason. Offensively, he has the tools, but the 2025-26 season can be a year of refinement.

Ball control, shot selection, passing, balance, shooting, all of these things Holmgren can certainly improve on heading into next season. Some of these are more difficult than others as a 7-foot-1 big who has the capabilities of doing it all, not being boxed in to a typical big man skill set.

His work ethic can curb the amount of time it would take for others to improve in these certain facets, and that should be expected as Holmgren and the Thunder enter the year as defending NBA champions.