The Oklahoma City Thunder have been hit by disaster after learning top draft pick Chet Holmgren will mis the entire 2022/23 NBA season due to injury.
Holmgren, 20, was selected second overall in this year's NBA Draft having declared himself eligible after a single season with his former college, Gonzaga. However, a run-in guarding Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James at a recent pro-am event ended with Holmgren suffering a 'Lisfranc injury to his right foot'.
A number of NBA stars participated in the CrawsOver Pro-Am in Seattle, only for the contest to be cancelled in the second quarter due to a slippery court. Holmgren was expected to play a prominent role for the Thunder this season after they missed the play-offs in each of the last two campaigns.
"Certainly, we are disappointed for Chet, especially given the excitement he had about getting on the floor with his teammates this season," read a statement from Thunder general manager Sam Presti. "We know Chet has a long career ahead of him within our organization and the Oklahoma City community.
"One of the things that most impressed us during the process of selecting Chet was his determintion and focus. We expect that same tenacity will carry him through this period of time as we work together and support him during his rehabilitation."
No. 1 pick Paolo Banchero—who was selected by the Orlando Magic —also took part in the pro-am event. The Athletic highlighted "the court was too slippery" in Seattle due to the humidity and an excess of spectators causing condensation.
Holmgren—who can play as a center or power forward—entered the NBA as a five-star recruit after averaging 14.1 points, 9.9 rebounds and 3.7 blocks per game during his freshman college year. He carried that form through to pre-season for the Thunder, where he averaged 14.0 points and 8.4 rebounds across five games.
The Minneapolis native was named the West Coast Conference's Newcomer of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year. The Thunder are due to kick off the upcoming season against Holmgren's home franchise, the Minnesota Timberwolves, on October 19.
Oklahoma City are in the middle of a renovation as they look to get back to the glory days of a decade ago when Kevin Durant and James Harden led them to the NBA Finals. Head coach Mark Daigneault will look to the likes of Derrick Favors, Ousmane Dieng and Aleksej Pokusevski to reinforce the center during Holmgren's absence.
