The Oklahoma City Thunder made some drastic changes to their franchise and roster this season, which resulted them from a 10th seed last year to the top three seed in the Western Conference this year. The team has seen a big leap in all things basketball and Thunder rookie, Chet Holmgren reveals what it takes to strive and survive in the Thunder organization.
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The second overall pick in the 2022 NBA draft, Chet Holmgren stepped foot on the NBA courts in the 2023-24 NBA season. Holmgren finally got to practice with his teammates, get to know his coaches, and more.
Recently, the Gonzaga product sat down with Shams Charania of the Stadium to talk about his journey to the league, how he felt sitting out the first year despite being drafted, and what it took to survive in the OKC organization.
“If you don’t come into training camp on day one with the mindset of doing everything toward winning a championship, you don’t end up in the Thunder organization.”
The Oklahoma City Thunder organization hit the reset button on their franchise a few years ago and the team traded away all their assets and All-Stars to go into rebuilding mode. But what their general manager Sam Presti did was beyond commendable. Presti loaded the roster with future picks and young talent, some of which are Chert Holmgren, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Jalen Williams to name a few. The team loaded the roster with young talent and gave them championship aspirations.
However, that came with a condition of sorts that required these young guns to do whatever it took, go to any lengths in order to help the team toward the road to a championship. And by the looks of it, the Thunder seem to have succeeded so far, being one of the youngest teams in the league and dominating the Western Conference with ease.
How have Chet Holmgren and OKC been this year?
The Oklahoma City Thunder made a huge leap from their season performance last year. The team is currently at the third spot in the Western Conference with a 53-25 season record so far and with four games left on their schedule, they will likely hold on to that spot.
The Thunder already had a star in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander but it was Chet Holmgren finally suiting up for the team that ended up making a huge difference. Another big factor has been the development of Jalen Williams into a perennial scorer who has helped both Chet and Shai on offense.
According to Statmuse, the Thunder rank first in three-point percentage, first in blocks, second in steals, and true shooting percentage, and are the third-best team in the league when it comes to field goal percentage, free throw percentage, and point per game.
OKC made huge leaps in all factors that could help them win a title in the coming years and it finally has paid off for the team this year. Let’s see how this young Thunder squad fares in the postseason with minimal to no playoff experience as a team.
