Chet Holmgren Stretches All-Time Great Rookie Season Into Playoffs

Despite his second-place finish in the NBA’s Rookie of the Year voting, Chet Holmgren’s impact received widespread praise and appreciation from NBA fans this season. However, in constant comparison with the historic debut season of the San Antonio Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama, the historic precedence of Holmgren’s rookie season went unappreciated by many.

With his contributions to the Oklahoma City Thunder’s achievement of the top seed in the Western Conference, Holmgren starred as one of the team’s three stars alongside Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams in the regular season. He played, and started in, all 82 games with an average statistical line of 16.5 points, 7.9 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 2.3 blocks per contest on 63.2 TS%. The 2.3 blocks per game stands out, but don’t quite capture his defensive impact. Despite his inexperience at the pro level, Holmgren arguably already established himself as one of the ten best defenders in the league with his paint-protecting prowess.

Given his two-way excellence, Holmgren completed one of the best regular season rookie campaigns in recent memory. He performed better than most Rookie Of The Year award winners of current times.

However, Holmgren’s ability to translate this impact to OKC’s postseason run at 22 years old has cemented his status as one of the best rookies in NBA history.

Holmgren’s offensive stats have declined a bit in postseason play, an average of 14.9 points on 55.2 TS% to be exact, but his defense has been better than ever. He’s put a lid on the rim; Thunder opponents have shot just 52.1% at the rim which is the second-best mark in the playoffs. This has been the catalyst for their second-best defensive rating during this stretch as Holmgren has averaged just under 3 blocks per game.

The Thunder will need Holmgren to continue to play at a high level, or even step up, to get out of their grueling series and one-win-to-two deficit against the Dallas Mavericks.

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