Oklahoma City Thunder’s No. 2 pick Chet Holmgren to miss 22/23 NBA season through injury
- Jason Soutar
- 26 August 2022
Twenty-year-old Chet Holmgren’s NBA debut will have to wait until 2023 at the earliest after he sustained a serious foot injury in Seattle.
Holmgren is an extremely unique player who was picked second in the 2022 NBA draft by the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Thunder have an extremely solid young core which includes players like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Luguentz Dort and Josh Giddey. It is fair to say the future is bright thanks to the tremendous work put in by general manager Sam Presti.
While they will obviously not be competing for a title within the next two years or so, they can definitely stake a claim at some point if they keep hold of the majority of the young players currently in Oklahoma.
The draft selection of Holmgren was another exciting pick by Presti and his debut in the NBA has been highly anticipated.
However, he will not be participating in the upcoming season after he picked up a foot injury during a pro-am game in Seattle last week.
The 20-year-old was defending LeBron James when he suffered a Lisfranc injury in his right foot.
Chet’s ankle gone after defending a Bron layup 1 minute into the game… pic.twitter.com/8Lk5St12rD
— Steven Adams Stats (@funakistats) August 21, 2022
"Certainly, we are disappointed for Chet, especially given the excitement he had about getting on the floor with his teammates this season,"
Presti said in a statement.
"We know Chet has a long career ahead of him within our organization and the Oklahoma City community.
"One of the things that most impressed us during the process of selecting Chet was his determination and focus. We expect that same tenacity will carry him through this period of time as we work together and support him during his rehabilitation."
A message to Thunder fans from GM Sam Presti
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) August 25, 2022
🎥 Full Opening Statement | https://t.co/HTQEzvT0Gb pic.twitter.com/NLQMZmP7OK
Holmgren is 7ft 1in and 196lb, which has raised concerns over whether or not he will be able to transfer his college form with the Gonzala Bulldogs into the NBA.
However, he performed well in the summer league and many players of a similar frame have gone on to become All-Stars.
While he was expected to be in the running for the rookie of the year award, this will not be possible in 2022/23.
Holmgren will be able to compete for the award next season should he make a full recovery.
