{"id":118749,"date":"2025-01-18T11:51:45","date_gmt":"2025-01-18T16:51:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=118749"},"modified":"2025-01-18T11:51:45","modified_gmt":"2025-01-18T16:51:45","slug":"thunder-chet-holmgren-injury-update","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/01\/18\/thunder-chet-holmgren-injury-update\/","title":{"rendered":"Thunder Big Man Receives Injury Update"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Despite his status as one of the team\u2019s top players, the Oklahoma City Thunder have gone 26-5 without <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/holmgch01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Chet Holmgren<\/a> this season. Frankly, that may say more about Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault or MVP favorite <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/g\/gilgesh01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Shai Gilgeous-Alexander<\/a> than him. Not to be forgotten is offseason pickup <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/harteis01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Isaiah Hartenstein<\/a>, who has stepped up in the wake of <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/11\/11\/thunder-navigate-chet-holmgrens-injury-new-starting-lineup-kenrich-williams\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">the 2022 No. 2 pick\u2019s hip injury<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Nonetheless, though a core player, Holmgren has turned into more of a luxury piece than necessity in OKC.<\/p>\n<h2>Thunder\u2019s Chet Holmgren Receives Injury Update<\/h2>\n<p>Per a team report (h\/t <em>Locked on Thunder<\/em>\u2019s Rylan Stiles), Holmgren will be re-evaluated in three-to-five weeks. After suffering a right iliac wing fracture on Nov. 10, he was initially given <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Rylan_Stiles\/status\/1855857338491519448\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">an eight-to-ten week recovery timeline<\/a>. Thus, the big man has progressed steadily.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Thunder Injury Update: Chet Holmgren is continuing to progress in his return to play protocol and will be re-evaluated in approximately three to five weeks.<\/p>\n<p>Per Thunder<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Rylan Stiles (@Rylan_Stiles) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Rylan_Stiles\/status\/1880404926792364295?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">January 18, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>It does seem like his recovery a bit behind the curve though. If so, the Thunder could just being cautious, resisting the urge to rush him back.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Chet Holmgren at today\u2019s shootaround <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Th0k0FfbTr\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/Th0k0FfbTr<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Clemente Almanza (@CAlmanza1007) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CAlmanza1007\/status\/1879936870827913389?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">January 16, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>After all, he missed his entire would-be rookie season <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2022\/08\/26\/what-the-chet-holmgren-injury-means-to-the-nba\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">with a Lisfranc injury<\/a>. Consequently, Holmgren\u2019s now played just 92 games since being drafted three years ago.<\/p>\n<p>Suffice it to say, that\u2019s not an ideal ratio.<\/p>\n<h3>Joel Embiid\u2019s Example<\/h3>\n<p>Like Philadelphia 76ers center <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/e\/embiijo01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Joel Embiid<\/a>, Holmgren can clear his early career hurdles. To that point, after being drafted third overall in 2014, Embiid didn\u2019t make his NBA debut until 2016. Though he missed two years with injury, he\u2019s still managed to be a perennial All-Star and MVP candidate.<\/p>\n<p>Embiid\u2019s health is once again a major concern but he\u2019s now nearly 31 years old. Holmgren will turn 23 in May, so even if his body eventually broke down like his, Oklahoma City should have a lot of time to build with him. With that in mind, Holmgren was playing quite well before he was sidelined by a hard fall.<\/p>\n<h3>He Could Only Help<\/h3>\n<p>This season, Holmgren\u2019s recorded 16.4 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 2.6 blocks per contest while converting 37.8 percent of his three-pointers.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Chet Holmgren 29 PTS on 8\/14 vs HOU<\/p>\n<p>The thought of the best team in the West adding this dude back at some point\u2026 <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/VcrSouGBHD\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/VcrSouGBHD<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Brett Usher (@UsherNBA) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/UsherNBA\/status\/1872366224765751747?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">December 26, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>His rebounding average, block average, and three-point percentages were all career-highs. His outside stroke also helps differentiate him from Hartenstein, who has gone 0-11 from deep this season. Adding him to the roster while the Thunder are rolling will only help them. Not in the least because they lack optimal depth at center.<\/p>\n<p>When he does return, Holmgren could slot right back into the first unit, replacing Hartenstein. However, he could also play alongside him, which would require less banging around down low. Indeed, Holmgren\u2019s future might be at power forward.<\/p>\n<p>Like Cleveland Cavaliers big man <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/m\/mobleev01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Evan Mobley<\/a>, he can play both the 4 and 5 but may be better suited for the former from a physical standpoint.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Despite his status as one of the team\u2019s top players, the Oklahoma City Thunder have gone 26-5 without Chet Holmgren this season. Frankly, that may say more about Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault or MVP favorite Shai Gilgeous-Alexander than him. Not to be forgotten is offseason pickup Isaiah Hartenstein, who has stepped up in the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5008,"featured_media":118760,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[22,1608,9,62,3,13],"tags":[4292,3966,993,267,4745],"class_list":["post-118749","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-thunder","category-basketball","category-cavaliers","category-nba","category-news","category-76ers","tag-chet-holmgren","tag-evan-mobley","tag-isaiah-hartenstein","tag-joel-embiid","tag-nba-injuries"],"modified_by":"Quenton S Albertie","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118749","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5008"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=118749"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118749\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":118763,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118749\/revisions\/118763"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/118760"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=118749"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=118749"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=118749"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}