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After narrowly missing the 2023 NBA Playoffs, the Oklahoma City Thunder have taken a massive leap as they’re not being talked about as a potential contender for the 2024 NBA Championship.
The Thunder’s rebuild went almost to perfection as they were able to draft several high-end players to surround superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander with.
Oklahoma City arguably has the best stable of young players in the league, though the most impressive one for the team so far this season has been Chet Holmgren.
Holmgren was the second overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, but he missed his entire rookie season after suffering a foot injury that required surgery.
However, Holmgren’s taken the league by storm in his first official year playing as he’s been a two-way force.
Holmgren’s play has picked up as of late and people like Michael Pina believe he is already making a case for the All-Star team via Dan Devine of Yahoo.
Chet Holmgren’s averaging 18 + 8 on 56/44/88 shooting; he’s top 15 in a bunch of advanced stats, including 5th in EPM.
From today’s DEVINE INTERVENTION: Could this dude be an All-Star *already?*
: https://t.co/3dh0J1GauZ
: https://t.co/oj3bYfjZfv
: https://t.co/LO5WLVVE5D pic.twitter.com/MIQFW7g2Q4
— Dan Devine (@YourManDevine) November 29, 2023
Not only is Holmgren averaging 18.1 points and 8.0 rebounds a game, but he’s also blocking 2.3 shots per game and shooting 56.4 percent from the field.
Those numbers are impressive for any player, let alone a rookie like Holmgren who is still only 21 years old.
There were analysts who believed he should have gone first overall in his draft class and now he’s making those people look intelligent given the impact he’s had for the Thunder.
It might be hard to believe that Oklahoma City can keep up this torrid winning pace, but this team feels legitimate and could very well be a dark horse to win it all.
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