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Early Tuesday afternoon, the OKC Thunder gave a Chet Holmgren injury update. The No. 2 pick underwent a successful surgery to remove hardware from his first surgery. Holmgren suffered a Lisfranc injury while playing in a Seattle pro-am over the summer.
Following this Chet Holmgren injury, the Thunder expected their top pick to miss all of this season. Even with his successful surgeries, the timeline remains for him to make his debut next year.
Before being drafted second overall by the Thunder, Holmgren had a standout season at Gonzaga. In 32 games, he averaged 14.1 points, 9.9 rebounds, and 3.7 blocks per game.
The Chet Holmgren injury forced fans to wait a little longer for his highly-anticipated debut. Standing at seven feet tall and 195 pounds, many NBA fans were interested to see how the young big man would fare in the league.
Holmgren has been dominant up to this point, but some skeptics wanted to see if his body could hold up against other NBA athletes. Seeing that he couldn't even make it through the summer, the critics' concerns were quickly brought to life.
The Chet Holmgren injury is elongating the rebuild for OKC
For years, the OKC Thunder have been at the bottom of the NBA standings. They bottomed out to rebuild, and now find themselves with an exciting group of young talent.
While they haven't been much of a competitive team in recent years, that appears to be changing. Currently, they sit in 12th place in the stacked Western Conference with a record of 11-13. If not for the Chet Holmgren injury, the Thunder might be able to compete for a spot in the play-in tournament this season.
Part of what has made OKC so competitive this year is the play of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. He has always been a promising young talent but has taken a massive step forward this year. Through his first 22 games, SGA is posting averages of 31.3 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 6.0 assists. This scorching hot start has him well on his way to receiving the first All-Star nomination of his career.
With Gilgeous-Alexander showing star potential, OKC might be ready to take the next step forward. That would have been possible if not for Chet Holmgren getting hurt in the offseason. His complementary skillset and defensive prowess could have raise the floor of this team on both ends.
Holmgren's injury may have delayed things a year, but it's evident the Thunder will be ready to compete by the time he is ready to take the floor.
