Chet Holmgren was the No. 2 pick in the 2022 NBA Draft by the Oklahoma City Thunder. Although he missed the entirety of last season due to injury, he is back now all set to compete in the upcoming season. Many people believe that he will be a tough contender for the 2023-24 Rookie of the Year award.
His impressive performances in the NBA Summer League are also another reason why many people believe that Holmgren can be a big star this season for the Thunder. Despite all the media hype and fan expectations, the youngster is looking to play well and help his team achieve success rather than chasing individual awards.
During an interview with Hoops Hype, Holmgren stated how his main focus is on helping OKC Thunder win more matches. He also mentions how winning the Rookie of the Year is not something that he feels is very important.
“My focus is on helping this team win games,” Holmgren said. “Things like Rookie of the Year and everything else are not important, so I’m just focused on helping the team. Everything else follows the team’s success.”
The youngster wants to play a big role in helping OKC Thunder get back to the playoffs next season. The Thunder reached the play-in tournament last season and now with Holmgren, they can take another step forward.
“Our goal would be to do everything that we can to reach what we’re trying to reach (playoffs),” Holmgren said. “And that’s going to start with Day 1 in training camp and putting in the work to be better each day, and hopefully if we continue to be better each day that puts us in a good spot.”
The Thunder have a young core with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander leading the pack. Now with Holmgren coming in they will have stability and the presence of the big man will elevate their gameplay to the next level.
Holmgren started slowly in the Utah Summer League where he averaged 12.5 points, 10.0 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.0 steals, and 3.5 blocks per game on 40.9% shooting across two games.
However, once he played in the Las Vegas Summer League games, he started averaging 20.5 ppg, 9.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.0 steals, and 3.5 blocks per game on 56.0% shooting in two games.
The upcoming NBA season will see some exciting talents on display and one such talent has to be this season’s no. 1 pick Victor Webanyama. When asked about the n.1 pick and the hype around him, Holmgren had nice things to say about the rookie. He believes that Webanyama deserves the hype that he is getting.
“Great player, very deserving of the attention he’s getting,” Holmgren said.
“It’ll be fun to be able to match up against him.
