The question making the rounds is whether Chet Holmgren is even the second-best young big man in the NBA — or whether guys like Alperen Sengun, Evan Mobley, and Jalen Duren belong above him before anyone mentions Victor Wembanyama in the same breath.
The 2025-26 numbers give us a place to start.
Holmgren earned his first All-Star selection this season, averaging 17.1 points, 8.9 rebounds, and 1.9 blocks across 69 games for the Oklahoma City Thunder, who finished 64-18 and atop the Western Conference. He shot 55.7% from the field and 36.2% from three — efficient, versatile, the kind of two-way presence that anchors a title contender.
Then you pull up Wembanyama’s line and the conversation shifts.
Victor Wembanyama posted 25.0 points, 11.5 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 3.1 blocks in 64 games for the San Antonio Spurs. He won his first Defensive Player of the Year award and made his second All-Star Game. The Spurs went 62-20, two games behind Holmgren’s Thunder. Wembanyama outscored Holmgren by nearly eight points a night, grabbed 2.6 more rebounds, and blocked a full shot more per game. That’s not a gap you can coach around.
But the more interesting question is what happens when you line Holmgren up against the other young bigs — the ones who don’t have a 7-foot-4 alien’s highlight reel.
Alperen Sengun has been a particular problem. In eight career head-to-head meetings, the Houston Rockets center has averaged 21.9 points, 9.5 rebounds, and 6.0 assists against Holmgren’s Thunder. Eight games isn’t a fluke sample — that’s a body of work. Sengun’s Rockets finished 52-30, fifth in the West, and he’s the offensive hub in a way Holmgren simply isn’t for Oklahoma City, where Shai Gilgeous-Alexander runs the show and Holmgren operates as an elite complementary piece.
Evan Mobley’s head-to-head with Holmgren is less lopsided — 16.8 points and 7.3 rebounds in four career meetings — but Mobley’s Cavaliers went 52-30 this season, and his defensive versatility at the rim and in switch situations is the kind of thing that doesn’t always surface in a box score but wins you games in May. Mobley averaged 9.0 rebounds for Cleveland this season and served as their second-leading scorer behind Donovan Mitchell.
Jalen Duren is the name that draws less national attention. His Detroit Pistons went 60-22 — the best record in the Eastern Conference — and Duren’s rebounding and rim-running have been central to that turnaround. Without verified 2025-26 individual stats, placing him precisely against Holmgren is harder, but a 60-win team doesn’t get there without its starting center earning his minutes.
Here’s the honest read: Holmgren is a terrific player on the best team in the league. He blocks shots, stretches the floor, and fits perfectly alongside a generational guard. But “comfortably the second-best young big after Wembanyama” is a harder argument than it looks. Sengun has outplayed him head-to-head repeatedly. Mobley’s defensive impact is elite in its own right. Duren anchors a 60-win team. Holmgren’s case for the No. 2 spot rests on team success and two-way versatility. The counterargument rests on what happens when he’s matched up one-on-one with the guys he’s supposed to be clearly better than. In eight meetings with Sengun, he hasn’t been.
Sources
- StatMuse: Chet Holmgren 2025-26 stats
- StatMuse: Victor Wembanyama 2025-26 stats
- StatMuse: Evan Mobley vs Chet Holmgren head-to-head
- StatMuse: Alperen Sengun vs Chet Holmgren head-to-head
- FansOnlySportz: Ranking of all 30 starting centers