With it looking increasingly more likely that the Oklahoma City Thunder land Gonzaga forward Chet Holmgren second overall in the 2022 NBA draft, some within the NBA are concerned about his physicality and frame.
HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto published his mock draft recently and was able to get the opinion of an NBA executive and NBA scout on their thoughts of Holmgren overall.
“‘As tough as he is mentally, he may not be able to withstand the physicality of the NBA game early on,’ an NBA executive opined. ‘I’m not sure he’s going to fill out his frame well. He has skinny shoulders. I don’t think he’ll be as good as someone like Karl-Anthony Towns or Anthony Davis. Defensively, he can be better than KAT. I’d compare him to Kristaps Porzingis.’
‘Chet’s the biggest risk at the top of the draft, but he could be the best player,’ an NBA scout opined.”
Holgrem’s frame at being a slender seven-footer has been one of the few criticisms on his game. With that said, I’m sure that’s a fixable problem when he is introduced to an NBA weight room and dietitians. Even if Holgrem doesn’t become a jacked athlete, that does not mean it will be a hinderance to his development as a player.
There are plenty of players in the league’s history — most notably Kevin Durant, who Thunder general manager Sam Presti drafted second overall in 2007 — that have slender frames and managed to carve out Hall of Fame careers. Being all muscled up is not the end all be all in the NBA for a measurement of success.
