The calendar has flipped to August. Which means we're in the dog days of the NBA's year-round calendar. Little will happen over the next two months as teams across the league prepare for the 2026-27 season. Before we move on, though, let's reflect one last time on last year.The Oklahoma City Thunder had a league-best 64-18 regular-season record. Juggling injuries all year, they overcame notable absences all year. Alas, they fell short of a second NBA championship with a 2026 Western Conference Finals exit.To reflect on their 2025-26 season, Thunder Wire will conduct player grades for all 20 players who suited up for them this past year. Second up is Chet Holmgren, who was an All-NBA player for the first time:2025-26 statistics:17.1 points8.9 rebounds1.7 assists1.9 blocks55.7% shooting36.2% 3-point shooting79.2% free-throw shootingAdvanced stats:True-shooting percentage:65.3%Usage rate:21.9%Win shares:9.1VORP:3.1Block percentage:6.4%Significant Percentile Finishes:Isolation scorer:66.1 percentileTransition scorer: 65.0 percentileP&R roller:84.3 percentilePost-up scorer:72.1 percentileCutter:75.4 percentilePutbacks: 89.7 percentileContract:2025-26:$13.7 million2026-27:$41.2 million2027-28:$44.5 million2028-29:$47.8 million2029-30:$51.1 million2030-31:$54.4 millionThoughts:When the Thunder added Holmgren, last year probably played out what they had hoped. After dealing with injuries in his first three seasons, he finally broke out. The 24-year-old became a first-time All-Star, All-NBA member and All-Defense honoree. He finished runner-up in Defensive Player of the Year. A household name for years, he finally lived up to the hype as a seven-footer rim protector who complements on offense. Sure, he won a championship the season before. But this was the best he looked at an individual level.Holmgren averaged career highs across the board. From points to rebounds. Out of necessity, too. With everybody else dealing with injuries, he was the one constant who helped Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. The two All-NBA players carried the Thunder to another first seed. The traditional stats paint a pretty picture. And popping open the hood, the advanced metrics absolutely loved his game and made him out to be one of the league's best players.On offense, Holmgren figured things out. He simplified his bag. Mostly play-finishes with a sprinkle of shot-creation. That helped him be one of the more efficient scorers in the NBA. The seven-footer leveraged his size to finish over defenders in the paint. The outside jumper remained a weapon, too. Albeit, you just wish he'd take more attempts. Think the percentages warrant it.On defense, you know what Holmgren brings to the table. He's one of the best rim protectors. It's his bread and butter. The Thunder had the league-best defense again. And he anchored things down low. There's a reason why his on-off splits and advanced analytics view him as one of the most impactful players in the league. If it wasn't for Victor Wembanyama, he'd have one Defensive Player of the Year trophy in his case. Alas. Happens when you're playing in the era of lanky unicorns.Think everybody who's followed the NBA had anticipated Holmgren's leap. He was bound to become one of the top players. Injuries slowed his roll, but now we saw that in fruition. He's one of your textbook examples of a litmus test. The box-score stats might not jump off the page, but his value is measurable in other ways. Going back to his high school days, he's been a high-octane winner. That's not a coincidence. His ability to completely tilt the geometry of OKC's halfcourt defense gets undersold at a national level. But true hoop fans and analytic fanatics get why he earned a bunch of first-time honors last season.Moving Forward:Now, let's talk about where Holmgren can go from here. As awesome as he was for the entire season, you can't help but shake your head at just how bad he looked in OKC's final seven games. Let's give his breakout year its deserved nuance. Because there's a lot to break down in how things played out. Zooming out, the Thunder have an All-NBA talent. No debating that. 28 other teams would absolutely kill to have him on their team. Even with his one-team problems.Holmgren has been one of the league's best players since he joined the NBA. Ranging from an All-NBA player to fringe All-Star range, you're getting one of the 30 best players in the sport. Sure, he doesn't do it conventionally. You'll never see him make highlight-worthy plays of draining a bucket or crossing a defender over, but his constant presence on defense makes him indispensable. When he's healthy, he's one of the best rim protectors. That's been the case since he first suited up.And this past season, you didn't need to lay out a persuasive essay for why Holmgren is one of the game's best. The tape told you the whole story. As well as the advanced metrics. There's a reason there wasn't a huge fuss when he made an All-NBA team. No matter how you splice it up, he was one of the best players. And at 24 years old, there's zero reason to believe he can't continue that. Especially since he dominates most of the league on a pretty consistent basis. He was easily OKC's second-best player through two rounds of their recent NBA playoff run.Now, let's segue to his Kryptonite. The San Antonio Spurs. Specifically, Wembanyama. No way around it, Holmgren was putrid in the Western Conference Finals. He went from a hyper-efficient scorer to someone who was barely noticeable on the floor. As he faded into the background, his nonexistent loud moments in the epic seven-game series stood out for all of the wrong reasons. By the end of Game 7, he turned into OKC's scapegoat. Souring what was a breakout year filled with individual celebration and accolades.What do the Thunder do from here? Run it back. I know, I know. Holmgren's public opinion is at an all-time low. Even though he recently helped OKC win a championship, the NBA is a what-have-you-done-for-me-recently business. Always has been. Always will be. You're measured in your most recent game. That said, now is the time to back up the 24-year-old. He's just simply too talented and too important to give up on after one bad playoff series. One mad matchup shouldn't erase an entire body's worth of work.And the truth is, if you want to best the Spurs, you're going to need Holmgren. He's been too important to OKC's ascension to the NBA throne. You just hope that he can learn the lessons he needed to learn from this past series and grow from there. We won't truly know that answer until they square off in the NBA playoffs again. But you don't destroy an entire infrastructure out of pure anger. Final Grade: AThis article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: 2025-26 Thunder player grades: Chet Holmgren