Chet Holmgren is facing a lot of scrutiny from the media after an abysmal performance in the Western Conference Finals series against the San Antonio Spurs.
The Oklahoma City Thunder center ended the series averaging 10.7 points, 7.1 rebounds, 1.0 assists, and 1.1 blocks while going 51.0% from the field and 27.3% from behind the three-point line, which were significantly below his season averages (17.1 points, 8.9 rebounds, and 1.9 blocks).
Soon after this horrifying series ended, several media members slammed the All-Star and began discussing potential trades for him. Draymond Green did not appreciate that several media outlets and critics were still incessantly urging the Thunder to trade Chet Holmgren after just one bad series.
The Warriors’ veteran spoke about Holmgren and slammed his critics in the recent episode of his own podcast, the Draymond Green Show.
“And it’s crazy, man, how people flip because Chet had an awful series, and I did not love the way it went, right? Like you watch it and it just wasn’t enough. Like, bro, you got to go down swinging, and it just didn’t feel like Chet went down swinging.”
“For that, I understand criticizing Chet and all of that, but acting like he’s just a bum and he should be traded—like, I thought all of that talk was ridiculous and premature, and it’s the exact way that franchises set themselves back and never grow.”
“It’s the exact reason that so many franchises don’t have the ultimate success, because most franchises actually panic and do what everyone’s saying they should do, which is, ‘Aw man, we need to trade Chet right now.’
“Man, Chet was just second in Defensive Player of the Year voting, All‑Defense First Team, All‑NBA Third Team, and All‑Star. And he had a bad playoff series, and everybody’s like, ‘Time to trade him,’ and I just can’t understand for the life of me why that’s always the first thing everybody says.”
“If you’re just gonna trade a guy when they go through a rough time, how do you ever build anything? Y’all going to have GMs calling Sam Presti like, “Oh man, we’ll take Chet,” and Sam not gonna even like “what?” hang up in their face like not trading Chet Holmgren.”
“I found it crazy that everybody’s just like, “Oh man, this guy needs to be traded.” Like really? What about this guy needs to go back and get in the lab and get better? And go work on his game because this guy just exposed all your weaknesses and showed everything that you need to get better at.”
“What about the criticism that he needs to get back in the lab this summer, be motivated, and get better? Why is it we need to trade him? As these take, they just seem to get a little lazy at times to me. Like trade them? Why, why is all of a sudden everything always about a trade-up? Trade this guy, trade that guy, trade. Like what? I just don’t understand it. So, no, I don’t expect Chet Holmgren to be traded.”
“They will have to make some moves, because I also don’t foresee OKC paying $250 million in salary and taxes next year and going into the second apron… They’re going to have to make some tough decisions for sure.… But the whole ‘trade Chet Holmgren’—it’s blasphemous.”
“He had a rough go against arguably the best player in the NBA right now. Arguably, some people are going to argue it, and we should trade him?”
“You ask yourself the question, well, if we trade him, who are we getting back that’s going to be better suited to. So, come on. Let’s stop with all the trade talk.”
“Chet, get back in the lab. Get better. Be motivated this summer. You wouldn’t get to where you are if you weren’t that guy. And then take your shot. But never go down without swinging again. You’ve got to go down swinging. Can’t go down without swinging. But trade Chet Holmgren? Enough guys. Enough,” said Green in conclusion.
Even after reports have claimed that the Thunder will not listen to offers for Chet Holmgren, several sources still expect that Chet Holmgren will be a player whom they will consider moving due to the impending tax pressure that comes with the $239 million extension that kicks in from next season.
The point that Green was trying to make is simple: the media has become too impatient with creating trade buzz over young players who may not even be in their prime just yet, after just one bad series. The same has also happened with other prominent young bigs in the league, like Evan Mobley and Alperen Sengun.
There needs to be a change in the media narrative that stops putting pressure on franchises to break up a young core sooner than giving them the time to improve. Understandably, the NBA is also a cold business; however, player development should also be the focus of the media, as per Green.
Arguably, Chet Holmgren is one of the few players in the league with the potential to build the body and stature needed to physically compete with a player of Victor Wembanyama’s size. So Green expects that the Thunder will not listen to any trade offers for Holmgren and will let him get in the lab and begin working on his bounce back for next season.
