Chet Holmgren Dishes on Playing Next to Newest Thunder Addition

The Oklahoma City Thunder rising star Chet Holmgren said 'No decision has been made yet,' when asked about playing next to Isaiah Hartenstein.

May 15, 2024; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder forward Chet Holmgren (7) reacts to an official’s call after a play against the Dallas Mavericks during the first quarter of game five of the second round for the 2024 NBA playoffs at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images / Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

The Oklahoma City Thunder have been in the spotlight this summer after dramatically improving an alredy 57 win roster which was good enough to nab the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference a year ago and win their first playoff series since 2016.

The Thunder went into the offseason with a glaring weakness in their frontcourt depth and grabbed the best big man available in Isaiah Hartenstein, inking him to the biggest free agent contract in team history spanning three years worth $87 Million Dollars. This on the heels of making an impressive one-for-one swap to net defensive ace Alex Caruso from the Chicago Bulls.

Since inking Hartenstein, the biggest question has surrounded his fit with Chet Holmgren and what role will he fill for the OKC Thunder. While bench boss Mark Daigneault sidestepped the starting lineup question, Holmgren admitted to visualizing what this pairing could look like while reiterating no decisions have been made yet before camp.

"It's definitely important to always try and visualize and see situations that you could be in before you are in them so you can prepare for them and practice for them. We haven't had a single-team practice. We haven't had a single day of training camp. I know we're not close-minded on what we're going to do. Coach isn't. Nobody in the building is," Holmgren said at media day "We have to get in there and figure out what is best for us as a team and what's going to work now and long-term for us. There's no decisions made on what we're going to do, how we're going to do it. That's going to be up to the coaching staff, and we're going to completely buy into that."

All eyes will turn to training camp and the Thunder's preseason opener on Oct. 7 in San Antonio for our first glimpse at what the roles will look like down low.

---

Want to join the discussion? Like Thunder on SI on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest Thunder news. You can also meet the team behind the coverage.