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NBA Assistant Coach Doubts Chet Holmgren’s Star Potential: “So Thin In Hips And Legs… I Don’t Think He’ll Ever Figure It Out”
The 2022 NBA Summer League has granted the NBA world a glimpse of No.2 overall pick Chet Holmgren in an Oklahoma City Thunder jersey, and it was definitely an eye-catching one for a start.
The OKC Thunder’s prized rookie stood out in his summer league debut, finishing the game with 23 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 6 blocks on a staggering 77.8% shooting from the field against the Utah Jazz.
He showed some weaknesses and had a tough time the next game up as he shot 3-11 from the field and 1-6 from deep against the Memphis Grizzlies, but he still managed to fill up the stat sheet with a double-double of 11 points and 12 rebounds to go along with 2 blocks.
Holmgren covers a lot of ground, has an incredible shooting touch, and is very fluid for a guy his size which make him an instant presence on both ends of the floor for the OKC Thunder.
However, the Gonzaga product is extremely skinny and lacks the strength of a typical NBA center which a lot of people find worrisome, especially now that he’s set to go up against bigger and stronger players in the NBA.
Holmgren is the No.2 overall pick as there’s a huge hope for what he could become in the future, but considering his major physical concerns, an anonymous NBA assistant coach thinks that the OKC Thunder rookie may not be able to live up to his potential.
Per Sports Illustrated:
“I’m not sold on him being a star,” said an NBA assistant sitting courtside for Holmgren’s debut. “He’s obviously an excellent shooter, skilled, but he is so physically weak. He can’t get by his defender and he realized that early and settled for threes the rest of game.
He’s so thin in hips and legs that he makes [teammate] Poku [Aleksej Pokusevski] look like he has thick legs. I don’t think he’ll ever fill out. He will need to make difficult shots this season to have a good year because he settles for jumpers and can’t play inside. He was able to use his length to block shots on drivers tonight but NBA guys will just get into his body. He has a long way to go.”
