Chet Holmgren said the Oklahoma City Thunder’s offseason departures of Luguentz Dort, Aaron Wiggins and Isaiah Joe were difficult to process, comparing the losses of key contributors from the 2025 championship team to “losing a family member.”
The Thunder traded Dort, Wiggins and Joe during the offseason as part of a financial reset designed to preserve flexibility around their core of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Holmgren and Jalen Williams. Speaking at a USA Basketball Foundation charity event in Southern California, Holmgren acknowledged the emotional side of the moves while understanding the business reasons behind them.
“That’s how the business of this game goes,” Holmgren said, via ESPN’s Ben Golliver. “No team, all 17 guys, sticks together forever. But it doesn’t make it hurt less when you see guys go.”
Dort and Wiggins were sent to the Atlanta Hawks, while Joe was traded to the Detroit Pistons. All three played important roles during Oklahoma City’s championship run, with Dort providing elite perimeter defense, Wiggins offering wing depth and Joe supplying high-volume three-point shooting.
Dort started all 69 games he played in during the 2025-26 season and averaged 8.3 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.2 assists while shooting 34.4% from three-point range. Wiggins appeared in 65 games and averaged 9.4 points and 3.1 rebounds, while Joe averaged 11.1 points and shot 42.3% from three on 6.0 attempts per game.
The Thunder moved the contracts of those three rotation players to reduce payroll costs and create room for future commitments. Oklahoma City received seven future second-round picks in the deals while clearing approximately $40 million in salary, allowing the organization to retain center Isaiah Hartenstein on a three-year, $75 million contract.
“I have complete trust in our team and the moves they make,” Holmgren said. “I trust what they’re doing is to get it right.”
The Thunder enter the 2026-27 season built around their three young stars. Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 31.1 points, 6.6 assists and 4.3 rebounds in 2025-26 while finishing first in MVP voting. Holmgren earned his first All-Star selection after averaging 17.1 points, 8.9 rebounds and 1.9 blocks in 69 games, while Williams averaged 17.1 points, 4.6 rebounds and 5.5 assists despite appearing in only 33 games because of injury.
Oklahoma City finished the 2025-26 regular season with the NBA’s best record at 64-18 but fell in the Western Conference finals, losing a seven-game series to Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs. Holmgren said the loss reinforced the difficulty of repeating as champions.
“We learned the same lesson [in 2026] as the year that we won it: It was almost more of a reminder of just how hard it is to accomplish,” Holmgren said.
The 24-year-old struggled in the decisive Game 7 against San Antonio, finishing with four points and four rebounds as the Spurs eliminated the Thunder 111-103. However, Holmgren said the result would not change Oklahoma City’s approach entering the new season.
“There is no guarantee. You can put in all the work and still come up short,” Holmgren said. “At the end of the day, you have to be okay with putting in the work with no guaranteed outcome.”
