Chet Holmgren Focused on Fitting In to Raise the Thunder's Ceiling

Chet Holmgren brings an element to Oklahoma City that the team hasn't had in quite some time.

Chet Holmgren’s addition to Oklahoma City’s lineup could change so many things for this team. He’s set to be a defensive anchor that the Thunder haven’t had since the days of Serge Ibaka, patrolling the paint and challenging shots at the rim left and right. He also has the potential to be an offensive weapon, too, stretching the floor and handling the ball efficiently at the center spot. His arrival could change the entire direction of the current team.

It’s early, but initial results have been positive starting with Summer League. Holmgren picked up right where he left off on both ends of the floor and made a significant impact immediately.

Playing with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Josh Giddey, all the pressure is off. Holmgren will have the whole floor to work and plenty of space to create. The attention offensively will be on Gilgeous-Alexander, Giddey, and even Jalen Williams, allowing Holmgren to be patient and let the game come to him.

General manager Sam Presti and head coach Mark Daigneault have expressed their confidence and support for Holmgren, and he has high expectations for himself, too. He knows his team is on the cusp of something special.

“At the end of the day it’s gonna come down to day one, day two, and every day after that,” Holmgren said. “It’s gonna start one day one, figuring it out with the guys. Obviously, we pretty much brought back our whole team from last year. They did a lot of great things last year and we’re trying to build on that.

“Also there’s some things that I do that we didn’t exactly have on the team last year. Obviously, I haven’t played with any of these dudes for 82 games so I’m gonna have to figure out how these dudes play and they’re going to have to figure out how I play — and how it can fit together to raise the ceiling of our team as high as we can.”

The Thunder didn’t have a true big man last year, much less a rim protector. Adding Holmgren to the lineup will allow guards to be more aggressive defensively because they have a center waiting back to swat shots away. If he can knock down 3-pointers consistently too, it would do wonders for Oklahoma City’s floor spacing.

Like Holmgren said himself, the early part of the season will be figuring out how high the core can raise the ceiling. He’ll likely be a determining factor in just that.

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