The Oklahoma City Thunder were hoping to repeat as NBA champions in 2025-26.
Everything seemed to be lining up perfectly for Oklahoma City to go back-to-back, as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander continued to play MVP-level basketball on the offensive end, and the Thunder boasted one of the deepest benches in the league once again.
Unfortunately for Oklahoma City, they were defeated by the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference Finals, and Chet Holmgren’s timid demeanor on both ends undoubtedly contributed to the Thunder’s unsuccessful title defense.
Bleacher Report’s Grant Hughes believes it’s time for Oklahoma City to move on from Holmgren and bring in a former San Antonio Spurs superstar and two-time NBA Finals MVP who is viewed as a legitimate trade target for the Golden State Warriors.
“Everybody seems pretty upset with Chet Holmgren’s poor performance in the Conference Finals, to the point that they seem to have forgotten he played a critical role during an OKC title run just over a year ago,” Hughes wrote Monday.
“That’s the kind of ‘in’ we need to get him into an outgoing package for Leonard, a battle-tested two-time Finals MVP who proved last year that he’s still got something pretty close to his ‘A’ game.
“Leonard could effectively slot into a power forward role vacated by Holmgren to provide the kind of high-volume shooting that would make it impossible for defenses to cheat away from him. Holmgren was a reluctant gunner against the Spurs and couldn’t punish schemes that dared him to create shots for himself or teammates.”
“The thought of opponents treating Leonard the same way is laughable; he’s still a first-option superstar who’d require a top-flight wing defender’s full attention.”
For clarity, the Thunder would send Holmgren and Isaiah Joe to the Clippers for Leonard in Hughes’ hypothetical trade idea. If the Thunder want to send Holmgren packing while keeping their win-now window wider than ever, swapping him for Leonard would likely do the trick.
Leonard continued his two-way dominance in 2025-26 following a campaign in which he was injured for more than half the year. The 34-year-old contributed 27.9 points, 6.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 1.9 steals per game this year, connecting on 50.5% of his field goals and 38.7% of his triples.
It’s reasonable to assume that playing alongside a confident and physically imposing killer who can take over games on either end when he pleases would do wonders for Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder next season.
The only problem is that the Thunder and Clippers are reluctant to trade their respective stars after the 2025-26 season (Sam Presti wants to retain Holmgren and Steve Ballmer wants to hold on Leonard), making Hughes’ trade concept a massive long shot.
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