The Oklahoma City Thunder’s Chet Holmgren, who starred at Minnehaha Academy, reportedly agreed to a max rookie contract extension. Michael Rand puts it in perspective in Wednesday’s 10 things to know.

By Michael Rand

The Minnesota Star Tribune

July 9, 2025 at 4:23PM

Thunder center Chet Holmgren signed autographs for kids at Oxford Community Center in St. Paul last week. (Jerry Holt/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

How I spent my summer, by Chet Holmgren ...

Two weeks ago: Had 18 points, eight rebounds and five blocks in Game 7 of the NBA Finals, helping to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 103-91 win over the Indiana Pacers and a championship on June 22.

Last week: Spent time as a hero back in the Twin Cities, leading a youth camp at Minnehaha Academy and showing off the NBA championship trophy.

Wednesday: Reportedly agreed to a fully guaranteed maximum rookie contract extension that could be worth as much as $250 million over five years.

That’s a pretty good run, and it’s still just early July.

The contract extension, though not unexpected, provides some future clarity for both Holmgren and the Thunder, who chose him with the second overall pick in the 2022 NBA draft. Holmgren is guaranteed $239 million, with the possibility of the total value reaching a quarter of a billion dollars.

As a 7-1 shot blocker with the versatility to guard multiple positions and handle the ball like a guard at times, Holmgren proved to be an integral part of both the Thunder’s championship team and their future.

The contract, though, does carry risk. Holmgren missed his entire NBA rookie season with a right foot injury and appeared in just 32 regular-season games last year because of a fractured pelvis.

The new deal won’t kick in until the 2026-27 season, a point at which the Thunder will be financially challenged.

They will still have Holmgren and star guard Jalen Williams on relatively modest rookie-scale contracts next season, which should help Oklahoma City preserve the depth that helped fuel its championship this season.

Barring injuries, the Thunder look nearly unbeatable next year — something the Timberwolves might be considering in their offseason planning, as Dane Moore and I talked about on Wednesday’s “Daily Delivery” podcast.

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But Williams figures to sign a lucrative contract extension similar to Holmgren’s soon, and the combination of those deals and a supermax contract for MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander will strain the rest of the Thunder’s roster in the future.

Having your players excel to the point that they are making big money, though, is a nice problem to have.

Holmgren is the latest example of that for the Thunder, and his summer just kept getting better on Wednesday.

Here are nine more things to know Wednesday:

Moore and I talked about several other Wolves topics on Wednesday’s podcast, including the keys to Summer League, where the Wolves stand at point guard and what the outlook is for next season. A lot of those discussions pivot around one player: point guard Rob Dillingham, who has a very important offseason.
Also on Wednesday’s show, I paid homage to the U.S. Open Cup. Minnesota United advanced to the semifinals of the sprawling soccer tournament with a 3-1 win over the Chicago Fire on Tuesday. The Open Cup, which has been around since 1914 and this year featured 96 teams from all levels of soccer in the United States, is as pure a form of democracy in sports as you will find.
The Chicago Fire, by the way, are helmed by former U.S. men’s national team coach Gregg Berhalter, in case you were wondering where he went.
The Twins clobbered the Cubs 8-1 on Tuesday behind a huge eighth inning. Harrison Bader hit another home run, giving him these absurd totals over his last four games: four home runs and seven RBI.
Simeon Woods Richardson quietly has been very good lately. In four of his last five starts, he’s gone exactly five innings and allowed two hits or fewer while giving up just one total run in those games, including five shutout innings Tuesday.
It was just batting practice, but it was meaningful: Zebby Matthews threw to Luke Keaschall on Tuesday. The not-far-off return of both injured young players would be a boost for the Twins.
It’s hard to imagine a tougher way to lose than a walk-off inside-the-park home run. That’s what happened to the Phillies on Tuesday against the Giants.

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Cheryl Reeve will coach Lynx players Napheesa Collier and Courtney Williams at the WNBA All-Star Game after a agreed-upon swap tweaked the normal format.
Minnesota Star Tribune columnist La Velle E. Neal III will be my guest on Thursday’s podcast as we dive into our weekly debate. Wolves wing Terrence Shannon Jr. figures to be in focus, among other things.

about the writer

Michael Rand

Columnist / Reporter

Michael Rand is the Minnesota Star Tribune's Digital Sports Senior Writer and host/creator of the Daily Delivery podcast. In 25 years covering Minnesota sports at the Minnesota Star Tribune, he has seen just about everything (except, of course, a Vikings Super Bowl).