Chet Holmgren, The Next Rookie of The Year?
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After not appearing in the NBA at all during his rookie year due to injury, Holmgren is finally ready to make his NBA debut with the OKC Thunder. I have to say the Thunder have a lot to look forward to. They have received as many picks as they had because of the trade that sent Paul George to the Los Angeles Clippers, and they traded and drafted well. Jalen and Jaylin Williams, Josh Giddy, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and more on the Thunder have all been drafted or traded to OKC.
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I believe that with Holmgren and their offseason additions, the Thunder can make a genuine push for the playoffs. Also, with time, I believe the Thunder can return to their former glory and be in the finals once more. Chet is one of those players where you would say, “Wow, that’s a generational talent." Plus, with his height, shooting ability, playmaking, and athleticism, I don’t see how he couldn’t end up as an MVP of the NBA. I wouldn’t even be surprised if he was the first person the media would start comparing to Victor Wembanyama.
I wanted to talk about the former number-one pick and compare him to the number-one pick this year. Chet Holmgren vs. Victor Wembanyama, this matchup could be a lot closer than people expect it to be. Wemby is 7’5, and Chet is 7’1. They are pretty close in height to each other, but Wemby has the edge in this category. We have only seen Wemby play in two games in the summer league. In the first game, he shot two for 13 from the floor, nine points, eight rebounds, and five blocks. The next game, boy did he shut those haters up. He scored 27 points, grabbed 12 rebounds, three blocked shots, and one steal while shooting 9-for-14. Chet is a different story in my opinion. During the summer league, Chet put up 14.1 points per game (PPG), 9.9 rebounds per game (RPG), 3.7 blocks per game (BPG), and 1.9 assists per game (APG) over 26.9 minutes per contest.
However, it’s only the summer league. We have seen current NBA stars struggle in the summer league before they go to the NBA fully and do great. There’s a transition period, you have to get over your nerves, and most of all you have to find your ground. I feel like Chet has a little more work to do in terms of being a star player for the Thunder. One day, we may be talking about the one matchup that breaks the internet, Chet Holmgren vs. Victor Wembanyama.
