What did Chet Holmgren's first two appearances reveal? Less than two weeks after being drafted No. 2 by the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Gonzaga product got his first taste of NBA action Tuesday and Wednesday at the Salt Lake City Summer League, facing the host Utah Jazz in his debut and the Memphis Grizzlies on night two.
Playing alongside Oklahoma City starting point guard Josh Giddey and fellow 7-footer Aleksej Pokusevski, as well as the team's other two 2022 first-round picks, Holmgren showed off the full repertoire that made him the No. 1 prospect in both ESPN's Jonathan Givony's top 100 rankings and my stats-based draft projections.
Holmgren had 18 points in the first half of his scintillating debut Tuesday, making four 3-pointers, and finished with 23 points on 7-of-9 shooting. He also contributed 7 rebounds, 4 assists and a Salt Lake City Summer League-record 6 blocks. Holmgren wasn't nearly as dominant on night two, missing five of his six 3-point attempts, but he still recorded a double-double with 11 points and 12 boards.
How might Holmgren's performance translate to his rookie season in the NBA and beyond? Let's break down his performance.
Strength: Shooting at size
What makes Holmgren such a special prospect? Let's start with his shooting ability at 7 foot.
The first couple of 3-pointers Holmgren made Tuesday, as well as his lone make Wednesday, were fairly conventional for a stretch 5. Two of the three came off pick-and-pop plays where Holmgren drifted behind the line, with the third another catch-and-shoot attempt in early offense.
The other two Holmgren triples came off the dribble, remarkable for a player with his size and defensive skill set. Consider that of the eight players who played at least 500 minutes at center last season (by my analysis of lineup data from NBA Advanced Stats), Christian Wood's 20 unassisted 3s led the group according to Stathead.com. Karl-Anthony Towns (17) was the only other center assisted on fewer than 90% of his made triples.
Opposing centers like Utah's duo of Tacko Fall and undrafted rookie Kofi Cockburn aren't used to guarding opponents capable of isolating and pulling up off the dribble. Those pull-up 3s help explain why Holmgren drew comparisons to Kevin Durant as a younger prospect. Per Stathead.com, 44% of Durant's 3s were unassisted, easily the most of any player listed taller than 6-foot-9 with at least 100 3s.
Naturally, we shouldn't expect Holmgren to be that facile, given Durant is probably the greatest tall player ever at creating off the dribble, but it's a skill that separates Holmgren from other stretch 5s. Slow-footed defenders will have to hope Holmgren misses those shots, as he did Wednesday, going 0-of-3 on 3-point attempts off the dribble.
Holmgren's shooting versatility doesn't apply only to 3s. When the Jazz went small late in the first half Tuesday, using 6-foot-7 Vic Law to defend him, Holmgren took Law to the elbow and hit him with a one-legged fadeaway patterned after fellow 7-footer Dirk Nowitzki's famous move.
Strength: Shot blocking
It's no surprise Holmgren's shot-blocking carried over from the NCAA to the summer league. In fact, his very first defensive possession as a pro saw Holmgren drop in the paint to contain both players involved in a pick-and-roll, then send Cockburn's shot into the crowd.
With a 7-foot-6 wingspan, Holmgren has the ability to play off opponents and still block their shots, something he did later Tuesday against James Palmer Jr. After initially getting wrong footed, Holmgren recovered to get in front of Palmer on the drive and get a piece of his shot. Holmgren's wingspan was also evident when he managed to tie up Fall for one of two blocks of the 7-foot-6 center.
On Wednesday, Grizzlies center Kenneth Lofton Jr. -- signed to a two-way contract after going undrafted last month -- employed a better approach against Holmgren. Surely drawing on experience as the leading scorer playing with Holmgren for last year's USA Basketball team that won gold at the FIBA U19 championship, Lofton went into Holmgren's body to create space and get off his shot. Lofton scored 19 points on 8-of-17 shooting, with Holmgren's only block against him coming on a corner 3-point attempt.
It's not just shot-blocking that makes Holmgren a potentially special defensive center. On Tuesday, Oklahoma City willingly switched him onto Utah's point guards, including former Final Four Most Outstanding Player Jared Butler. Holmgren held his own and made multiple efforts on one notable play in which he switched onto Butler, collapsed in the paint to block Law's shot and then forced Law into a second miss around the hoop.
Areas of improvement: Boxing out, playing in traffic
Holmgren's most obvious area of need is strength. For the most part, Holmgren doesn't get pushed around in the paint. And few NBA teams are willing to devote possessions to straight post-ups like the ones the Jazz and Grizzlies ran to start halves for Cockburn and Lofton, who both put Holmgren in the goal before scoring.
More likely, Holmgren's strength will be a factor on the defensive glass. Once a shot went up, boxing out Cockburn or Fall became his primary focus when they were in the game Tuesday, making it a little more difficult for Holmgren to chase rebounds -- disappointing because of the danger Holmgren presents starting the break on his own when he comes down with defensive boards.
Like most skilled prospects coming out of college, Holmgren will have to adjust how he plays in a crowd of defenders. The same height that gives Holmgren the ability to find passing lanes over smaller defenders, which he did to find an open Jalen Williams (not fellow OKC teammate Jaylin Williams) under the hoop for a dunk Tuesday, also makes him vulnerable to getting stripped off his high dribble.
That type of play resulted in one of Holmgren's two turnovers Tuesday, while he was bailed out by a foul call on another foray into traffic. Holmgren's other giveaway came when he was trapped and couldn't find a pass over the top.
Inevitably, Holmgren's competition will soon get more difficult. Even by the standards of summer league, Utah's roster is short on proven talent, and Memphis' top players sat out the second night of a back-to-back. Without them in action, Holmgren's shooting accuracy predictably regressed to the mean Wednesday.
Still, Holmgren showed that the skills that made him an elite player as an amateur will carry over and perhaps even be amplified by better spacing in an NBA setting. He's got a long way to go as a pro, but Holmgren's sky-high potential was evident in his summer debut.