Chet Holmgren reveals on-court focus for first season with Thunder
Chet Holmgren missed his first year in the NBA but returned to the court this summer and is eager to begin his rookie campaign with the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Holmgren suffered a Lisfranc injury last August playing in a pro-am in Seattle, Washington. He eventually underwent two surgeries as part of the rehabilitation process and was recently cleared to return to the court in a competitive game setting.
He looks to have picked up where he left off.
The former second pick averaged 16.5 points, 9.8 rebounds, 3.5 blocks, two assists and one steal in four summer league games between Salt Lake City and Las Vegas. He finished off his stay in the desert with 25 points, nine rebounds and five blocks on July 12.
Holmgren had the opportunity to sit down with Kevin Garnett in Las Vegas for an interview on Showtime and the 21-year-old revealed his goals for next season with the Thunder.
The main focus is to help us win games. We got a young team. We’ve got a lot of work to put in to do that. It’s just going to take repetitions and games to figure out my game and how I fit with these dudes and how they fit with me and to find my touch on some shooting; shooting in-game free throws after not doing it for a year feels way different.
Just getting all of that stuff back and continuing to change and evolve as the season goes on. As there are more games on the (scouting report), what teams let me do and try to take away is going to change so I just have to adjust to all of that.
The showing by Holmgren in summer league gave the team plenty of excitement for the upcoming season. He even improved his standing in the Rookie of the Year race as the former Gonzaga All-American has the second-best odds of winning now.
With Holmgren back, the Thunder played with much of their core to start their stint in summer league. The group offered a glimpse of what it can offer next season and it seems reasonable to believe the team is poised to take another step forward.
