How Could Chet Holmgren Benefit From Extended Absence?

Could Chet Holmgren come back from his injury a better shooter?

Chet Holmgren could eventually come away from his season-long absence with a better jumpshot than he left with. Spending the rest of his time on a scooter strictly shooting with his upper body will build his touch with the ball. Mix in his rehab with low effort shots, he will be able to continue to build on this and continue to add touch while adding his power from his base.

Here’s 1:29 of Chet making all of his shots pic.twitter.com/6Qsz8Nd8bW

— Clemente Almanza (@CAlmanza1007) October 4, 2022

If Holmgren is able to come back with an improved jumpshot, which was solid during his Summer League, the ceiling for the offense is brought even higher. Josh Giddey will also have been working with Chip Enegelland for a year, and if he can shoot the 3-pointer at a 33% clip or better, which would be a huge jump, the duo could be one of the best in a few years time.

Same goes for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who was a solid off-ball shooter last season. Gilgeous-Alexander could take another slight leap from there, and the big three of Gilgeous-Alexander, Giddey and Holmgren could all become competent from beyond-the-arc, allowing each of the three more space to work and get their own buckets.

Mix in a Luguentz Dort and a fifth starter, and you could potentially be looking at a near playoff team in their first full year all healthy, and a similar team to the Memphis Grizzlies in their first playoff berth. Adding shooting to the star players will add to the teams’ ceiling much, much earlier in this rebuild. This seems like a possibility with Chet being able to build from his injury and Engelland being available this season.

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