Holmgren Injury to Cause Thunder Lineup Shift
Chet Holmgren’s injury puts Oklahoma City in a major, and obvious, predicament.
Holmgren missing his entire rookie season isn’t helpful for the Thunder who had seemed to be on the fast track of ending the rebuild process.
Also despite having plenty of listed depth in the post, the depth may not be sustainable. It starts with Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, a promising young player who saw a lot of starting time at the five in 2021-22.
With Holmgren now on the mend the blanket answer is Robinson-Earl takes over the chunk of Holmgren’s leftover minutes.
However, while a quick fix, Robinson-Earl isn’t built to be a full time NBA center. It’s not his fault, but he’s undersized for the role. He can still make an impact on OKC, but potentially in a forward capacity.
Robinson-Earl is 6-foot-9 and 230 pounds. Which, for perspective, is just one inch and 20-pounds heavier than Josh Giddey.
Robinson-Earl showed promise at times last season. He averaged 7.5 points and 5.6 rebounds per game in his 49 appearances. The promise shined through with Robinson-Earl able to hold his own at times against some of the league's best centers. However, at other times it was obvious he wasn’t the long term solution for OKC at center.
Robinson-Earl has the ability to be a piece for OKC for the future but center may not be the best spot to play him to set him up for success.
With Holmgren out, Robinson-Earl will probably see a slight minute increase, but increases should also be expected for the other big men including Derrick Favors and Aleksej Pokusevski.
With Favors and Pokusevski returning to the rotation and Jaylen Williams entering his rookie year, it’s more likely for those three to see more of a significant playing boost at the five than for Robinson-Earl.
While Robinson-Earl will likely see a good chunk of work it might be more as a forward than a center to better suit his size and skill set.
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