ESPN Personalities Discuss Chet Holmgren's Defensive Outlook for 2023-24

Oklahoma City Thunder rookie center Chet Holmgren is one of the most polarizing figures in the NBA ahead of his rookie season.

Coming into the league, the versatile 7-foot center from Gonzaga had plenty of fans, but also his fair share of doubters. Due to Holmgren's lanky frame, many media members and league observers questioned weather the former 5-star recruit would be able to hold up against the heavier big men in the NBA.

After a foot injury in the summer of 2022 caused Holmgren to miss all of what was supposed to be his rookie season, the conversation's around Holmgren's size (or lack thereof) were shelved for a year.

With Holmgren now set to make his NBA debut in less than a month, media members are once again debating how the former No. 2 overall pick will compete against certain types of centers throughout the league.

On Monday's episode of The Hoop Collective, an ESPN podcast hosted by Brian Windhorst, ESPN NBA Insiders Tim Bontemps and Tim MacMahon joined the show's host to discuss potential "breakout and bust teams" for the 2023-24 season.

In the episode, Windhorst, Bontemps and MacMahon mentioned Holmgren, with Bontemps pondering how the rookie center will play when tasked with defending players like Nikola Jokic, Steven Adams, DeAndre Ayton, Rudy Gobert, Jonas Valanciunas, and the other physically strong big men around the league.

"If you're playing Chet inside, against legitimate centers, I think he's going to get beat around pretty good," Bontemps said. "I think you could struggle there. ... Jonas Valanciunas would not be a fun matchup, your old pal Rudy Gobert would not be a fun matchup."

MacMahon countered by reminding Bontemps that the NBA has changed since the 1990s, and that the Thunder won't be squaring off against an elite, game-changing big man every night.

"Bontemps you act like this is 1995," MacMahon responded. "Where it's Hakeem (Olajuwon) one night and David Robinson the next."

MacMahon also added that teams like New Orleans, Memphis and Minnesota don't typically run their offense through Valanciunas, Gobert or Adams, and that all of the aforementioned teams would be taking the ball out of their best player's hands in order to try and take advantage of a potential mismatch between Holmgren and a heavier offensive player.

"If Memphis wants to dump the ball down to Steven Adams, okay," MacMahon said. "DeAndre Ayton is going to pound on him with 14-foot fadeaway turnarounds? ... They want to feed Valanciunas with post-ups?"

Bigger, slower defenders like Adams, Gobert and Valanciunas will also have trouble defending Holmgren, as he is much quicker than most centers and showed an ability to blow by other big men from the perimeter in the Summer League.

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