The Oklahoma City Thunder announced that No. 2 overall pick Chet Holmgren would miss his rookie season after he suffered a lisfranc injury while playing at the CrawOver Pro-Am last weekend.
Oklahoma City Thunder 7-footer Chet Holmgren will miss the 2022-2023 season with a Lisfranc injury to his right foot. Holmgren, the No. 2 pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, suffered the injury in a Pro-Am game in Seattle on Saturday.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) August 25, 2022
Holmgren is the latest lottery pick to lose their rookie season due to an injury, joining a list of bigs and forwards that includes Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, and Blake Griffin. Simmons and Griffin went on to win the Rookie of the Year the following season due to the lost time preventing them from touching the court in their true rookie seasons.
“Certainly, we are disappointed for Chet, especially given the excitement he had about getting on the floor with his teammates this season,” Thunder GM Sam Presti said in a statement. “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 determination and focus. We expect that same tenacity will carry him throughout this period of time as we work together and support him during his rehabilitation.
Holmgren joins a list of high draft picks who lost their rookie years to injuries, including Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons and Blake Griffin. https://t.co/EYNVgA1bYk
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) August 25, 2022
Holmgren’s injury will prevent the Thunder from putting him into a lineup that features Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Luguentz Dort, and Josh Giddey. Despite the injury, Holmgren will likely still be considered a key piece of OKC’s core moving forward, but it’ll be interesting to see how his development will be aided or hampered by this recent development.
Moving forward, OKC will rely on Derrick Favors, Aleksej Pokusevski, and Ousmane Dieng to fill where Holmgren’s presence will be missed.
