Chet Holmgren's Start to Sophomore Season Displaying Strong Progression

The second-year jump seems to be in full effect for the Oklahoma City Thunder's franchise center.

Oct 27, 2024; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder forward Chet Holmgren (7) celebrates after dunking against the Atlanta Hawks during the second half at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images / Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

The common expectation after a player's rookie season is to for them to make a "second-year jump."

Sometimes that comes to fruition, other times it becomes the opposite. Fortunately for the Oklahoma City Thunder, center Chet Holmgren has already seemed to pass that test with flying colors through three games.

The Thunder has gone undefeated so far this season, defeating the Denver Nuggets, Chicago Bulls and Atlanta Hawks in double-digit victories. That's resulted from several areas, but Holmgren's performance has been a focal point of each game.

In Oklahoma City's season-opener against Denver, multi-time MVP winner Nikola Jokic served as quite the difficult first matchup for Holmgren to encounter. However, he not only led his team to the win, he outperformed one of the most talented centers to ever step on an NBA court.

Holmgren dropped 25 points, 14 rebounds, five assists, two steals and two blocks on 11-of-18 shooting, while Jokic provided 16 points, 12 rebounds and 13 assists, two steals and a block on 6-of-13 shooting. Of course, the triple-double was impressive — as typical of Jokic — but Holmgren was the undisputed center on top of the game, even at the Nuggets' home court.

Two days later, Holmgren helped lead the Thunder past the Bulls with 21 points and 16 rebounds, a steal and two blocks on 8-of-18 shooting. Between both performances, the questions on his rebounding toughness from last year seem to be eliminated with a combined 30 boards.

In Oklahoma City's win over Atlanta in the second leg of its back-to-back stretch, Holmgren's defense was the star of the show. In a 25-point and nine-rebound night, he added a steal and an absurd six blocks. Although its only been three games, he does lead the league with a combined 16 steals and blocks, one ahead of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's 15.

With such dominance on the offensive and defensive ends, Holmgren seems well-prepared to make the expected jump. That could take him into serious All-Star contention in the Western Conference, especially if the Thunder can find its way to the No. 1 seed for the second year in a row.

Oklahoma City has sought after a franchise center for several years, and it's finally found a player with the potential to be that. It only took two seasons — aside from the year of absence from injury — for that to shine through, and Holmgren's name is going to be around the top of the position for the next decade if all goes according to plan.

When a team is in possession of a center that can score 20+ points a night and provide All-NBA defense, it's bound to find success.

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