the great prospect Holmgren, second pick of the draft, absent all season
Blow to Oklahoma City. Victim of a foot joint injury, the great American hope will be absent for the entire 2022-2023 season.
Chosen second in the 2022 NBA Draft by Oklahoma City, American Chet Holmgren (20) will miss the entire coming season due to a right foot injury, his franchise has announced. The very slender pivot of 2.13 meters for 90 kg suffers from a lesion of the right Lisfranc, a joint of the foot, said Thursday the general manager of the Thunder Sam Presti in a press release.
« We are sad for Chet » who was looking forward « to being on the court with his teammates this season », can we still read on the franchise website, penultimate in the Western Conference at the end of the season regular 2021-22.
An increasingly sought-after profile
Author of a good season in the NCAA, the American university championship, with Gonzaga, Chet Holmgren was selected in second position during the last draft, behind Paolo Banchero. The Minneapolis native displays amazing agility and liveliness for an interior of his size.
With more than 14 points per game, he showed off his offensive panoply by being skilful inside as well as at three points, a profile that is increasingly sought after in the NBA, especially since his presence on the rebound – almost ten catches per game against often more physically imposing players – reassured.
But like other filiform giants like the Latvian Kristaps Porzingis (2.21m) or the Frenchman Rudy Gobert (2.16m) in his debut, his ability to meet the physical challenge of the NBA, still a notch above over it, and to resist injury interrogated. He « is not going to gain masses of weight » even after his arrival in the NBA, had also warned Jamie Dixon, coach of Holmgren in U19. What reinforce the doubts around this certain but fragile talent.
