OKC Thunder mailbag: Should Chet Holmgren's playing time be monitored?

The calendar nears August, which means the NBA is in its driest part of the year. Rosters are mostly set as front offices head into vacations for the next couple of months before training camps start.

The Oklahoma City Thunder will enter the 2025-26 season with the hopes of being repeat NBA champions. They had one of the greatest seasons ever with a 68-14 regular-season record and captured the Larry O'Brien trophy.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren were all signed to new contract extensions this offseason. As the Thunder basically run it back with the same roster, Thunder Wire will conduct regular mailbags to answer questions that fans have.

One question being asked is about Holmgren's workload. After another injury-riddled year that saw a hip fracture limit him to 32 regular-season games, should the Thunder approach his 2025-26 season more cognizant of his minutes? That would be a tough argument to pitch to a 23-year-old who's already missed over half his time in three seasons.

Since they graduated into being a contender two seasons ago, the Thunder have never been the type of organization to limit their star players' minutes. The only real example was how Alex Caruso was managed last year. And even then, he's just a 31-year-old role player who was better suited to play his brand of high-intensity basketball in the playoffs.

The Thunder are the second-youngest NBA champions. They shouldn't stress over Holmgren's minutes in the regular season. Besides, he's only averaged 28.9 minutes per game in his career. That's a good range to have for the seven-footer. Expect a similar number next season.

While Holmgren has missed significant time, neither of his big-time injuries should create chronic pain that needs to be monitored. The deeper the Thunder went into the playoffs, the better he looked. With an offseason under his belt, any rust concerns from his Nov. 2024 hip fracture should be removed.

I say let's play the season out. Holmgren should be treated like any other 23-year-old. Obviously, if he has any lingering injuries, you must keep an eye on them and see if sitting out the occasional game will be worth it. That's a luxury afforded to OKC's entire roster, considering how deep it is. But there's zero reason to map out a plan to have him keep his regular-season workload limited with an arbitrary number.

Extend Dort now or wait until next offseason before deciding what to do?

What will happen with Dieng's contract? Salary dump him at the deadline and convert Barnhizer or Carlson to a standard deal? Trade Dieng for a win-now veteran?

Will Chet's minutes be managed this reg szn?

— Braxton Reynolds (@BReynolds200) July 21, 2025

This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: OKC Thunder mailbag: Should Chet Holmgren's playing time be monitored?