Thunder’s Chet Holmgren Out For Season; Did Magic See This Coming?

The Oklahoma City Thunder big man suffered a foot injury in a pro-am game last week, ending his rookie season before it even began.

After months of speculation leading up to the NBA Draft on June 23, the Orlando Magic shocked everyone by selecting Paolo Banchero with the No. 1 overall pick.

Before that, many believed Orlando would go with the versatile big man Chet Holmgren. For whatever reasons, though, the Magic passed on Holmgren, and he fell to the Oklahoma City Thunder with the No. 2 overall pick.

On Thursday, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Holmgren will miss the his entire rookie season due to a right foot injury.

“Oklahoma City Thunder 7-footer Chet Holmgren will miss the 2022-23 season with a Lisfranc injury to his right foot. Holmgren, the No. 2 pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, suffered the injury in a Pro-Am game in Seattle on Saturday,” Wojnarowski wrote.

“Holmgren joins a list of high draft picks who lost their rookie years to injuries, including Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons and Blake Griffin.“

The Seattle Pro-Am game — which was hosted by former NBA player Jamal Crawford and featured many current and up-and-coming stars like LeBron James and Banchero — barely made it halfway through the game before being called off due to condensation on the court. 

Thunder GM Sam Presti soon followed the injury reports with an official statement.

"Certainly, we are disappointed for Chet, especially given the excitement he had about getting on the floor with his teammates this season. We know Chet has a long career ahead of him within our organization and the Oklahoma City community,” Presti wrote.

“One of the things that most impressed us during the process of selecting Chet was his determination and focus. We expect that same tenacity will carry him through this period of time as we work together and support him during his rehabilitation.”

Although condensation was a major concern in Saturday’s Pro-Am game, Holmgren’s injury could’ve been mostly due to taking a hard drive to the basket by James. One of the knocks on Holmgren going into the draft was his thin frame, and there have been questions about whether he’d be able to withstand the physicality that comes along with being an NBA big man.

Is it possible that Orlando could’ve seen this coming? After all, it’s not uncommon for tall, lanky players like Holmgren to experience issues like these … it’s just not usually something that’s an issue before a rookie season begins.

Whether it was a fluke injury, or something Holmgren and OKC should be concerned about going forward, the way-too-early draft night returns suggest that the Magic made the right call by going with Banchero. Hopefully Holmgren will make a full recovery and have a great career … and potentially a healthy draft class rivalry with Banchero as well.

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You can follow Dalton Trigg on Twitter at @dalton_trigg

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