Running toward the weak side to provide help, Chet Holmgren collected his fourth block of the night by two-hand stuffing Keyonte George’s drive to the basket.
By the end of the night, the Utah Jazz grew accustomed to being on the wrong side of Holmgren’s lengthy wingspan. The highly anticipated return of the 2022 No. 2 pick highlighted the Oklahoma City Thunder’s 95-85 win in their first summer league contest.
The Thunder headed into Monday’s game with a clear talent advantage across the board. OKC’s starting lineup consisted of last year’s Rookie of the Year runner-up, the No. 2/No. 12 picks and a third-year guard.
By the end of the game, all five Thunder starters finished with a plus-minus of six-plus or better.
Meanwhile, the Jazz were without their top rookie, Taylor Hendricks, and the only notable players who suited up were Ochai Agbaji and George.
The talent gap became evident by halftime as the Thunder built a 59-43 lead thanks to a 43-point second quarter. That figure is even more impressive when you remember summer league quarters are 10 minutes.
The Jazz made it interesting in the fourth quarter with a 23-13 advantage, but the 20-point lead OKC entered the final frame with was enough of a cushion.
The Thunder enjoyed a hot night from 3; they went 13-of-31 (41.9%) beyond the perimeter arc. That effort was a much better night than Utah’s 9-of-34 (26.5%) effort from 3.
The Jazz were led by their two notable young players. Agbaji finished with 17 points on 7-of-19 shooting and nine rebounds. George had 18 points on 7-of-16 shooting. Luka Semanic also had 13 points and six rebounds.
It was an impressive team win for the Thunder, but the result of summer league games are inconsequential. The more exciting part of Monday’s fun night involved the dominating showing of OKC’s young core and being able to finally watch Holmgren play after spending the entire 2022-23 season rehabbing his Lisfranc injury.
The return of Holmgren made this summer league game that much more special. If he ends up having as great of a rookie season as most anticipate, we can look back at this otherwise forgettable night as the beginning of Holmgren’s arrival after a one-year delay.
“It was great to be back with these guys, man. I love all of them. Let’s keep working,” Holmgren said about his anticipated return.
The Thunder are hoping this game was a sign of things to come for the foreseeable future in their marriage with Holmgren following a bumpy start. Let’s look at Thunder player grades.
Chet Holmgren: A-plus
Chet Holmgren quickly shook off any rust he had in a slow start in the first quarter. It took 10 minutes for the 7-foot-1 center to find his groove after nearly a year of no games.
In his first action since last year’s summer league, Holmgren finished with 15 points on 6-of-14 shooting, nine rebounds and four blocks in 29 minutes.
“Once the game came to me and I let it come to me, things started to open up and we opened up a lead as a team,” Holmgren said after the win.
It only took a couple of minutes for Holmgren to tangibly show just how huge of a difference he can be for a Thunder squad that lacked serious rim protection and a traditional center last season. When he was on the court, he was like a magnet to the ball on defense and utilized his length to disrupt Utah’s offense via blocks and deflections.
On offense, Holmgren got it going in the second quarter as he scored 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting that included him finishing deep inside of the paint and creating his own shot on a pull-up jumper.
Another thing that stood out for Holmgren was his physicality. The 21-year-old gained 13 pounds since last year’s summer league, and he took full advantage of the extra weight by bumping into Jazz players with no fear. This is promising for someone who’s heard loud concerns over his skinny frame.
While it wasn’t as eye-catching as last year’s summer league debut, Holmgren reminded folks why he was the No. 2 pick with a remarkable performance.
Locking down on defense as a unit ➡️ capitalizing on offense pic.twitter.com/mZj5E9utU5
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) July 4, 2023
Chet protecting the rim 🚫 pic.twitter.com/H6sgu2t1lt
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) July 4, 2023
Workin’ on both ends of the floor 🔥 pic.twitter.com/Wi27vkX9qH
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) July 4, 2023
Playing through the physicality pic.twitter.com/S7Fy1wWtyf
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) July 4, 2023
Jalen Williams: A-plus
Monday night essentially confirmed Jalen Williams’ summer league tenure will likely be short.
It was evident quickly that Williams is leagues above playing in summer league. He finished with 21 points on 8-of-14 shooting, went 3-of-5 from 3 and grabbed four rebounds in 22 minutes.
Williams started with a bang: His nine first-quarter points nearly matched the Jazz’s 13 points. He finished with 21 points in the first half and played just five minutes in the second half.
“We all played together and that’s always a fun environment to be with,” Williams said.
Tre Mann: A
Tre Mann gets an ‘A’ simply for completing one of the greatest dunks I’ve ever seen.
Taking a single dribble, Mann burst off the floor and slammed the lethal two-foot one-handed dunk on Micah Potter to posterize the G Leaguer and send Twitter abuzz.
This was the peak of an incredible night for Mann, who is in a summer-long fight to keep his roster spot as the third-year player participates in summer league. Mann finished with 20 points on 7-of-15 shooting and went a scorching 4-of-8 from 3 in 33 minutes.
It’s not ideal for your third-year first-round pick to still play in summer league, but credit to Mann for making the most of the opportunity on his first night and sending a reminder why he was one of OKC’s more promising players last offseason.
Man oh Mann! 😳 pic.twitter.com/47UF75eMeH
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) July 4, 2023
Pushing up the floor in rhythm 👌 pic.twitter.com/IazkYfMnUm
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) July 4, 2023
Ousmane Dieng: F
The Thunder couldn’t go 3-for-3 with awesome nights from their 2022 lottery picks.
It was an ugly game for Ousmane Dieng, who finished with four points on 1-of-11 shooting and went 1-of-5 from 3 in 30 minutes.
The same issues present during his rookie season resurfaced on the first night in SLC: Dieng struggled to finish through contact. He went 0-for-5 in the paint and the jumper wasn’t hitting either. He went 1-of-6 on jump shots.
Just an overall tough outing for the 20-year-old that will receive plenty of chances throughout summer league over the next couple of weeks.
