Chet Holmgren had a sensational debut in NBA Summer League when his Oklahoma City Thunder took on the Utah Jazz. This game was a part of the 2022 Salt Lake City Summer League Classic, meaning the Jazz were playing at home.
The Thunder have a strong Summer League team that features all their major draft picks from this season. In addition, they also have NBA-quality players in Josh Giddey and Aleksej Pokusevski getting a run alongside the new players. The star of the night was Chet Holmgren, who broke the Salt Lake City Summer League record for blocks in his debut.
Chet ended the game with a statline of 23 points, 7 rebounds, 6 blocks, 4 assists, and 1 steal. That is a monster night for someone making their debut in professional basketball, even if the competition wasn’t exactly representative of what he’ll face in the regular season. After breaking the blocks record, Chet was confident he would be breaking it again sometime soon.
"That's a record?… Well I'm coming to break it again"@ChetHolmgren after setting the Utah Summer League Record for blocks with 6. pic.twitter.com/ygENsHwQ0l
— NBA (@NBA) July 6, 2022
“That’s a record? I am coming to break it again.”
Chet’s start in the NBA is proving the hype around him might be real. Summer League cation shouldn’t be taken very seriously but an impressive performance here does bode well for his future in the league. His center matchup came against the 7’6″ Tacko Fall, the victim for 2 of Chet’s 6 blocks during the game.
His offensive skill-set attracted many people to his game. Chet was dribbling effortlessly and showed glimpses of creation ability, something that probably will improve over time playing alongside Josh Giddey.
Giddey ended up with 11 assists on the night, clearly tailoring his play to highlight what Holmgren can bring to the table. If this team can make the right jump this season with Chet, the OKC Thunder may soon need to think about contending instead of tanking.
