Thunder star Chet Holmgren’s disastrous Spurs series draws defiant Sam Presti declaration

The Oklahoma City Thunder are just over a week removed from their Game 7 loss to the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference Finals. In that game, Chet Holmgren shockingly attempted just two shots, getting completely shut down by Spurs star Victor Wembanyama, who shut down any talks of a potential rivalry between the two in this series.

Now, Thunder general manager Sam Presti has stepped up to defend Holmgren amid buzz that Oklahoma City should look to trade the star this offseason.

“Chet’s one of our guys. He’s been so impactful, he drives winning on so many different levels for us. … He didn’t have a great series. As I was saying, if you go back and look at some of the greatest players, they all have these moments where they run into defeat and struggle,” said Presti, per Joel Lorenzi of The Athletic.

To say Holmgren didn’t have a great series would be an understatement. The former lottery pick routinely declined to even look at the rim, a fact made worse by the fact that Oklahoma City needed additional offensive support with Jalen Williams and Ajay Mitchell both missing the majority of the series.

“He’s an underdog. We’ve seen that everywhere. He’s been questioned every time. That’s why he fits here so well. This is a guy that is intrinsically motivated. He doesn’t need things on the internet to drive his improvement,” added Presti.

Whether it’s from the internet or somewhere else, the Thunder are certainly hoping that Holmgren finds the proper motivation to improve this offseason. Some have already floated the idea of Oklahoma City trading him for Giannis Antetokounmpo, although that would appear to be a pipe dream at best currently.

Clearly, Presti still has confidence in the big man.

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