Thunder rookie Chet Holmgren underwent successful surgery to address a Lisfranc injury in his right foot, the team announced on Tuesday. As we previously relayed, Holmgren will miss the 2022/23 campaign.
Holmgren, 20, was drafted second overall by Oklahoma City in June. The 7’0″ prospect has intrigued teams with his length and offensive skillset, averaging 14.0 points, 8.4 rebounds and 2.8 blocks per game in five summer league contests last month.
As Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman writes, a Lisfranc injury can be related to ligament damage, bone damage or both. Holmgren suffered ligament damage that will sideline him for several months. He joins a long list of high draft picks to miss their rookie seasons, including all-NBA center Joel Embiid and former No. 1 overall selections like Ben Simmons and Blake Griffin.
The Thunder are coming off a 24-58 season and will have to proceed without Holmgren for the time being. The team is still rebuilding, however, so Holmgren’s absence shouldn’t have a major impact on its place in the 2022/23 standings.
Jeremiah Robinson-Earl just got a new lease on (nba) life. I’m guessing he & Jaylin Williams will get most of the mins Chet would have received. Not nearly as much rim protection from those guys but they are both elite at taking charges. Interesting to see if 1 of those guys is able to be a plus offensively on a consistent basis
Young Battier… link to m.youtube.com
Honestly might have been the best thing for the mammoth rebuild Presti has planned
The best thing??? Might not be the worst but it’s definitely a negative
Nah if you can argue his rookie extension should be worth less because of this, and you somehow luck into the number one pick then the 2025 thunder are gonna be dangerous. Though SGA might be ready to be traded for other roster capital at that point.
Thunder have a chance to snag Wembanyama by having another bottom 3 season or by having a bad enough year to put them in a position to move up to 1 overall with all that draft capital they have stashed away. All while having Chet on the back burner.
Presti moves SGA this year and really gets this thing moving. Exciting times
Moving SGA will get things moving alright. Backwards. And Chet would be much better off getting minutes/shots/exp on the court than languishing on the back burner. They were gonna have a pretty good chance at a top5 pick whether Chet played or not. Tbh he prob woulda been a net negative out there this yr being so young & slim. Losing that yr off experience sucks for him & the franchise. Also suffering ligament damage in the foot is obv not good for a young big.
In a case like this where Holmgren will play zero minutes this season, is he eligible for ROY voting next year?
Yes Embiid was eligible and that’s how Ben Simmons and Blake Griffin won ROY. It’d be interesting to see what they would do if they got the rights to draft Wembanyama. Maybe trade back.
They’ll tank their way back to Seattle!
He’s already hurt without playing a single regular season game. Imagine this skinny dude going against Oakley, Larry Johnson, Kemp etc..He’ll get slapped around hahaha
He should pay a visit to Louisiana and explore the Southern cuisine with Zion.
Oakley, Johnson and Kemp would have sweat pouring down their faces with their hands on knees and panting after 3 minutes trying to cover Holmgren.
Hahaha sure!! You smoke too much!!
OK ———— SOoooooo if Thunder get #1 pick. Holmgren is gone ….. gone and will never play in OKC. Better gain weight while he does nothing. How hard can it be.
Oh boy, this isn’t a good sign. Yes, many first rounders have come back from missing rookie season but Holmgren already had major questions about durability due to his body. Guys with odd bodies like Holmgren (i.e. Greg Oden) often didn’t pan out in the NBA.
Chet Holmgrom’s name is a cuss word in Oklahoma right now!
Lisfranc injuries are random. Rick Smits had chronic foot troubles. Chet doesn’t have to fall into that category. You’re right. Not a good sign. And yes he should put on weight. He probably won’t have a choice. Julio Jones was on the top of his game when his lisfranc injury happened. And he’s not 7′. Big guys with foot injury sounds typical but I think it has more to do with coming down wrong than being built wrong.