SGA Has 'Full Faith' in Chet Holmgren, Thunder 'Need' Star Despite Struggles in Loss to Wemby, Spurs

Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander hasn't lost trust in teammate Chet Holmgren after the young big man had a tough series in the Western Conference Finals.

"We need Chet. We just need Chet Holmgren," Gilgeous-Alexander told reporters Sunday. "Before Chet was here we weren't who we are today. When he's the best version of himself, we are the best version of ourself. It's no secret. ... Guys like that you need on your team."

Holmgren had four points, four rebounds and two blocks in Saturday's 111-103 loss to the San Antonio Spurs. That capped off a series in which he was clearly outplayed by San Antonio star Victor Wembanyama.

Spurs-Thunder Highlights

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As a result, some are already expressing a need for the Thunder to do something dramatic and jettison Holmgren for an older, more established star.

Like Gilgeous-Alexander, Thunder guard Alex Caruso believes this is all a massive overreaction to a competitive series.

"There's nothing that needs to be solved," he said, per The Athletic's Joel Lorenzi. "We could have won the game (Saturday), and you would have been asking them the same thing. I don't think there's this narrative that this is a bugaboo. We should have played better and won the game and been in the NBA Finals.

"They're a good team, they're young. We're a good team, we're young. Both will probably be around for a while, so we gotta get better and try to win next time."

There's no getting around Holmgren's performance in the conference finals, and the Spurs aren't going anywhere when Wembanyama is still just 22.

Still, the Thunder could very well be in the NBA Finals right now if they had Jalen Williams on the court in Game 7. In that scenario, they'd be the clear favorites over the New York Knicks.

You can play the what if game forever, but people surely aren't floating a Giannis trade for the Thunder if they're hoisting a second straight title. And that's an outcome that was at least plausible this year.