The Oklahoma City Thunder held their 2023-24 media day on Monday, Oct. 2. The event kicks off training camp and the preseason.
The biggest storyline during the all-day event involved the return and debut of 2022 No. 2 pick Chet Holmgren. After suffering a season-ending Lisfranc injury last year, the seven-footer is set to make his NBA debut this season.
Buy Thunder TicketsThroughout the day, Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault and players spoke about Holmgren’s impending return and the difference he can make as an elite rim protector.
Let’s recap what they had to say about Holmgren.
Mark Daigneault:
“Again, we’re not going to make any assumptions that he is or isn’t (a PF or C). I think we use everybody as a screener. We’ve shown that in the past, so that won’t be an isolated skill to him.
“Everybody on the team screens. Shai was our most efficient screener for most of the year last year, and he’s obviously a ball-dominant player, but we move everybody around in those ways, and those fundamentals kind of transcend the individual players, so he’ll learn it like the rest of the team…
“The individual styles of play are really where it’s at. It’s about finding a way of playing for every player, not just for him, that’s efficient and that’s impactful. Then your role changes based on the team.
“But what role you occupy, what position, numbered position you are on the court, how many minutes you play shouldn’t alter the way you play. It’s really about finding an efficient, impactful way of playing for Chet and for every other player on the team, and who he’s out there with won’t change how he plays. He’s going to play how he plays.”
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander:
“We’re excited to have Chet back. He’s a big-time competitor. At the end of the day, I think he just wants to win, when you add a guy like that to a group of players that want to win as well, most of the time, it goes well.
“And then for myself personally, just be one of the guys out there — Chet brings so many things to the game, block shots, he rebounds, he’s versatile, especially in today’s NBA, helps out a lot not only myself but the rest of the team.”
Lu Dort:
“It’ll be great to trust a good rim protector behind me that’s going to go and make plays. I know Chet, he’s not shying away around the rim, so that will be a great adding for our defense.
“But at the same time, we have a lot of guys that can guard and make good plays, but Chet protecting the rim is going to be huge for us.”
Josh Giddey:
“He’s been very versatile. I think he can stretch the floor for us. He drags bigs out of the paint, which is going to be huge for us, and he’s a lob threat. He plays above the rim.
“It sounds cliche, but he does do it all, he can handle the ball. When he gets a rebound, he’s a guy that can take it up the floor himself and handle it. He’s going to bring a new dynamic to our team, not just offensively but defensively, while he protects the rim in my opinion as well as anybody in the league. He’s elite on that end of the floor, and he’s going to provide us with a lot of different ways that we can play different lineups with him out there.
“He’s going to be a massive addition to our team, and excited to play with him.”
Jalen Williams:
“Chet brings a lot to the table. He’s super talented, so it’ll be really cool to see how the coaches kind of have us all plug in.
“Yeah, even just kind of to your point, playing the 5, the way we kind of look at it is it’s not so much playing the 5, it’s just five guys that are out there. I never really took it to heart about actually playing the 5 or anything, and then obviously Chet is Chet, so it’ll be cool to go through training camp with him for the first time and kind of see where we all kind of lay, but kind of just leave that up to the coaches and let them figure it out. We just go out and play.”
Kenrich Williams:
“Chet is going to be special for us. I’m not even talking about just the offensive side of the game. Just defensively, the impact that he’s going to bring for us, like I said, man, I’ve been here four years, and I don’t think we’ve had a legit shot blocker, rim protector like Chet.
“As a defender and we’ve got multiple defenders on the team, knowing that somebody is there at the rim, it just boosts your confidence on defense.
“I think that Chet is going to be big for us.”
Aleksej Pokusevski:
“Yeah, we work out — we played some 5-on-5 together with the same lineup. It looks good. I hope it’s going to look good on the court when we play a game.
“He’s a great player. He’s going to get better. Obviously, he’s young. I think he’s going to bring some good things to the team. I can’t wait to play with him on the court.”
Jaylin Williams:
“We all know how great of a player Chet is, offensively and defensively. He can alter a lot of shots and you can rely on him to be that guy down there to protect the rim, and then offensively he can dribble the rock, he can offensive rebound, you can throw him lobs, you can do whatever, so really he’s going to help a lot, and Chet is just a great player overall. …
“I feel like having Chet on the court will help everybody. He can space the court. He can protect the rim. He can guard guards. He can do everything. I feel like it’s hard to say Chet won’t help.”
Isaiah Joe:
“Chet is going to be a guy to draw attention, and I think we’re going to be able to complement each other very well. He’s a big guy. He takes up a lot of space. He’s very skilled on the offensive end. He has a lot of tools that can be utilized out there, and I think guys like that help complement my game as well as mine complement theirs.
“Definitely looking to get in the gym, continue to build chemistry, see what we can do out there, and hopefully it turns out for the better for sure.”
Olivier Sarr:
“Yeah, really talented. Great skill set for a guy his size, and I think it’s going to be interesting. I’m excited for him to get back to playing because that’s what he loves to do and that’s what we all love to do.”
Vasilije Micic:
“I think our team in general is unorthodoxly talented compared to others that I’ve seen in the summer league. I think each position player can do everything, like even Chet can play point guard, which is very impressive for me.”
Cason Wallace:
“I feel like it’s a great help having Chet at the rim. He blocks shots at a high rate. But me personally, I want to be able to keep my defender away from Chet. If they get to Chet, then I know that he’s going to have my back and be there to help.”
