The Thunder quickly ended rumors that Chet Holmgren was hurt.

The No. 2 pick in the 2022 draft, Holmgren, will miss all of 2022–2023 due to a Lisfranc injury to his right foot, the organization said on Thursday. The operation on Holmgren is scheduled over the upcoming weeks.

After the announcement, Thunder general manager Sam Presti spoke with the media for about half an hour.

Presti addressed a few of the queries, but many more remain.

What impact will Holmgren’s injury have on the Thunder’s prospects for 2022–2023?

It might not, though.

Rookies rarely have an impact on victory. even inexperienced players like Holmgren. Although they are the exceptions rather than the rule, Scottie Barnes and Evan Mobley were successful rookies for Cleveland and Toronto in the previous campaign.

Tramel’s ScissorTales: Chet Holmgren’s foot ailment hinders Thunder’s advancement

Let’s say Holmgren takes the Thunder to a 30-win season. It’s not like the squad will suddenly have 18 wins without him. Holmgren might be worth an additional two or three victories at most.

Without Holmgren, the Thunder won 24 games in the previous campaign, including a disastrous finale. Considering the anticipated growth of its young players, shouldn’t OKC be better this season? Although the team should be better, that doesn’t ensure its record will be better.

Presti stated as much on Thursday.

“I think we’re a better team going into the season,” Presti stated.

Will it be simpler for the Thunder to tank their way to another high lottery pick if Holmgren is out for the entire season? I don’t think so. Either way, the Thunder was probably going that way, even without Holmgren.

Presti stated, “I’m not sure how the season will go.” Furthermore, anyone who believes they do is most likely mistaken. We must thus wait and watch how things play out; we have done so annually. And that’s the beauty of sports—some years we’ve been astonished, and other years we’ve been disappointed.

How does this alter the starting lineup for the Thunder?

Although I’m sure the Thunder don’t give much priority to this, it’s a legitimate question.

Holmgren was sure to start at number five on opening night. Lu Dort, Josh Giddey, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander are the other locks.

The frontcourt is a major question mark, but the backcourt is still intact.

Though Holmgren’s absence meant that Jeremiah Robinson-Earl would likely start at power forward beside him, I could see JRE moving to center and Darius Bazley starting at power forward. It’s possible that Bazley will benefit the most from Holmgren’s injury in terms of playing time.

Although Bazley’s offensive production has stalled, his defense improved last year. Could Bazley potentially be a center for little balls? Perhaps.

Additionally, Aleksej Pokusevski may see an increase in playing time. It’s Poku’s now-or-never moment.

How about Derrick Favors, please?

At the start of the summer, Derrick Favors appeared to be an apparent cut from the roster, but the Thunder haven’t let go of the seasoned center.

Favors played Summer League alongside his Thunder teammates, and his presence is appreciated by the group. Cuts to favors are unpredictable, and this was true even before Holmgren’s injury became public.

Does Holmgren’s injury, though, strengthen Favors’ position to make the squad? Not in my opinion. It’s not as if the Thunder are fighting to keep their depth at the center right now. Don’t forget that rookie center Jaylin Williams and Mike Muscala are still with the team.

OKC doesn’t really want to compete this season. If the Thunder are in need of a big man who can play with movement, they could always bring in another Moses Brown, Mamadi Diakite, or Olivier Sarr.

One argument in favor of keeping Favors rather than taking that path is that his $10.2 million contract, which is about to expire, might be valuable in a trade.

When questioned about the roster’s back end, Presti replied, “To be honest with you, we just haven’t had a chance to process that.” “Getting the assessments, making sure we’re with the right doctors, understanding the injury, understanding the long-term prognosis, and making sure that we have all that lined up has taken up a lot of time over the last few days.”

Do NBA players have to go to pro-ams?

It is inevitable for basketball players to play during the off-season.

Not that Holmgren was the only NBA player present at Jamal Crawford’s gathering in Seattle. Ultimately, Holmgren was protecting LeBron James at the time of the injury.

Presti remarked, “It’s unfortunate that things didn’t work out the way we had hoped.”

Players have sustained injuries in pro-am competitions before, not just Holmgren.

At a pro-am in Miami in 2017, former NBA guard Brandon Knight tore his left knee’s ACL, as documented by injury expert Jeff Stotts of InStreetClothes.com.

Not to be overlooked is the fact that the CrawsOver was an NBA-approved event.

In 2023–2024, will Chet Holmgren still be regarded as a rookie?

Yes, and there have been cases in the past where top picks have chosen not to play in their “first” NBA season.

The Clippers selected former Sooner Blake Griffin first overall in the 2009 NBA Draft, although he was forced to miss his rookie campaign due to a knee injury. Ben Simmons, another first-round pick, missed the 2016–17 season due to a foot ailment.

After being drafted, Griffin and Simmons both went on to win Rookie of the Year in their following seasons.

The two-time MVP runner-up Joel Embiid missed his first two NBA seasons due to a foot injury.

At age 21, Holmgren will now be playing as a rookie. By then, Giddey—who is five months Holmgren’s junior—will be a third-year player.

Who goes first? Who takes a seat? How about Poku?OKC Thunder projected depth chart for 2022–2023

Is there any bright spot in Chet Holmgren’s injury story?

Not really, though. It would take some sunset-colored spectacles to turn this into a plus.

It’s unfortunate that Holmgren is injured for his growth, the cohesiveness of the club, and the fan base. … for TNT, who planned to air a Thunder-Magic national telecast with the first two draft selections.

In a worst-case scenario, however, the Thunder’s best-case scenario would be as follows: OKC would select one of two players in the 2023 draft—dynamic guard Scoot Henderson or French wonder Victor Wembanyama—to join the core of Gilgeous-Alexander/Giddey/Holmgren.

 

Russell Westbrook Is Called A Bully by Damian Lillard: “Kevin Durant Would Be Getting Mad!”

In regards to Russell Westbrook, another NBA superstar, Damian Lillard just revealed some serious information. The Bucks point guard talked about his encounter with the former MVP from his Thunder days in a recent episode of the ‘Club 520’ podcast.

“He was the bully for the first five or six years I knew him. He used to attempt to give me 50 every time when I was a rookie or in my second year. He would shoot at me so much that it would enrage Kevin Durant, who would then yell, “Pass the ball!”

Fans are aware of Lillard’s regard and fondness for Westbrook, but it wasn’t always the case. Years ago, there was a belief that the two were involved in a dispute.When they encountered each other during the season, Lillard frequently went to blows with Westbrook, referring to him as his “arch nemesis”. The rivalry grew stale with time, but Westbrook’s standing as a fierce opponent remained constant.

Westbrook has never taken the approval of the crowd lightly and has always played with a tough, aggressive mentality on the floor. Russ has been on a quest to crush his opponents and assault them with everything he has since being selected fourth overall in the 2008 draft. That holds true for him now, as it did for him years prior when he and Kevin Durant were colleagues on the Thunder.

In tandem, Westbrook and Durant guided the Thunder to their most prosperous run in the team’s history and advanced them to the NBA Finals in 2012. Westbrook stayed on the club to assume the role of leader even after Durant left in 2016. Westbrook cemented his legacy in 11 years with the team by averaging 23.0 points, 8.4 assists, 7.0 rebounds, and 43% shooting per game. In addition to being a two-time scoring champion, he is a nine-time All-Star.

Despite all of his efforts on behalf of the Thunder, Westbrook continues to face criticism for his role in forcing Durant out of the city. Durant gave up on the Thunder to join with the Golden State Warriors in 2016 after the Thunder lost to them despite having a 3-1 series lead.

Although it has been reported that Durant wasn’t friends with Westbrook, the Thunder teammate, Durant never cited the player as the cause for his departure. In addition to his fiery personality, Westbrook is a very dominant ball-handler who performs best when the ball is in his hands.

It was frequently disputed throughout his time with Durant how frequently he would shoot the ball in comparison to his MVP-caliber teammate, who was unquestionably the best player on the squad. Russ frequently put the Thunder out of games, and his intransigence frequently proved costly when it mattered most.

It must have been a startling difference for Durant to go from that to play for the Warriors with Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and company. Westbrook was only able to play alone for a few years with the Thunder before switching teams and seeing a downturn in his career.

Though opinions on how Russ compares to other great point guards like Damian Lillard, Kyrie Irving, and Stephen Curry are divided, Russ is still regarded as one of the most important players of the current NBA. In addition to bringing out the best in him, Westbrook’s Kobe-like demeanor alienated those people who may have assisted him in realizing the full potential of his career.