The Oklahoma City Thunder are signing power forward Chet Holmgren to a five-year contract extension that could be worth upwards of $250 million, according to sources that spoke to ESPN’s Shams Charania. This comes a little more than a week after OKC signed NBA Finals MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to a record-setting $285 million extension.

“They went through a fair amount of adversity during the season,” said Thunder general manager Sam Presti during his end-of-season meeting with reporters on June 30th. “In reality, a lot of that adversity forged us into the team that we were, playing different lineups and being without certain players and then getting those players back, and the selflessness and humility that the players coming back had to have in order to fit into a team that was really cooking without them. Chet is one example of that, but we had many others.”

Breaking: Oklahoma City Thunder star and NBA champion Chet Holmgren has agreed to a fully guaranteed five-year maximum rookie contract extension that could reach $250 million, agent Bill Duffy of WME Basketball told ESPN. pic.twitter.com/PsdxZq275C

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 9, 2025

Taken with the second overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, Chet Holmgren didn’t make his NBA regular-season debut until October 25th, 2023 because a Lisfranc injury in his foot caused him to miss the entirety of the 2022-23 season. Once he took the floor, though, he made his presence felt right away by earning All-Rookie First-Team honors.

Holmgren started in all 23 of the Thunder’s playoff games, averaging 1.9 blocks and 8.7 rebounds per contest, which were both team highs. He also put up 15.2 points per game in the postseason, which was the third-best mark on the team.

Comparing this to another recent signing

This is an incredibly fascinating move because the situation and contract terms are similar to the deal that the Memphis Grizzlies just struck with center Jaren Jackson Jr. When Memphis extended JJJ for five years and $240 million, I called the contract a gross overpay. Despite being a worse scorer and defender than Jackson, Holmgren received the same deal. By that logic, this should be viewed as an overpay, too, but it isn’t.

Unlike Jaren Jackson Jr. in Memphis, Chet Holmgren is not Oklahoma City’s second-best player. That honor goes to Jalen Williams. Therefore, Holmgren can be looked at as OKC’s third option, and compared to the rest of the teams around the league, there aren’t many better third options than him. Going into next season, there are only eight other teams that have a number-three option equal to or better than Chet Holmgren, and considering his age and potential, that number is even lower long-term.

Chet Holmgren is one of the best defenders in the NBA at 23 years old.

One of the rare true 7 foot unicorns who protects the rim at an elite level and shoots 3s.

He missed 3 months to a hip fracture and came back to anchor OKC’s elite playoff defense.

Thunder don’t win a title…

— Brandon Rahbar (@BrandonRahbar) July 9, 2025

More importantly, Chet Holmgren was the defensive anchor of a championship-winning team at the age of 23. Simply put, the Thunder don’t win the NBA Finals without him on their roster. Comparatively, Jaren Jackson Jr. has been the best defensive player for a franchise that hasn’t advanced past the second round of the NBA playoffs in the seven years he has been with the team. Winning a championship in the NBA is insanely difficult, so if the Thunder have the pieces in place to make that happen, they need to do everything in their power to keep that core of players together. However, the Grizzlies have nothing to show from their core of Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr. other than a 2022 playoff series win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Lastly, Chet Holmgren is still improving while Jaren Jackson Jr. is already pretty close to his peak. With over 430 regular and postseason games under his belt, there’s a chance that Jaren Jackson Jr. might have played his best basketball. Meanwhile, Chet Holmgren hasn’t even started 150 NBA games, yet he has helped a team win a championship without a fully-developed offensive game. Over the next few years, there’s a much higher chance that Holmgren turns into a 20-point-per-game player rather than Jaren Jackson Jr. becoming a 25-point-per-game player.

There was never any doubt that OKC was going to get this deal done. Chet Holmgren is a vital member of a roster that just won a championship, even though he is still developing his game at the NBA level. Successful franchises maintain their cores so that they can stay competitive for years. The San Antonio Spurs did it in the early 2000s, the Golden State Warriors did it in the 2010s, and now the Oklahoma City Thunder are doing it. When the chemistry is good and banners are being raised, you do everything in your power to keep your current group together, even if it means paying your third-best player up to $250 million.