Chat Holmgreen’s pleasant, historic Summer League debut shows a disturbing upside for both himself and OKC.

You can hardly say a word of praise for a young prospect’s Summer League performance before being pushed by the NBA’s Twitter loyalists. The performance of the Summer League has traditionally had nothing to do with the success of any player’s NBA, so the 20-year-old’s decision to dominate the summer rosters, which will never happen and will never happen, is considered low-sighted and unfair. Has been rejected.

Forget the noise.

If you can’t appreciate what Oklahoma City Thunder rookie Chat Holmgreen did in his Summer League debut Tuesday night, you have no business watching NBA basketball. In the 98-77 victory over the Utah Jazz hosts on the first night of the Salt Lake City Summer League, Holmgreen stunned fans on the field with 23 points, seven rebounds, six blocks, watching at home, and following on social media. What Four assists and one theft in about 24 minutes. No. 2 was also very useful in last month’s draft, in which 9 goals were scored instead of 7 from the field, including 6 of 4 out of 3 points.

It was an absolute master class from the 7-foot, 195-pound 20-year-old Gangley, whose six blocks broke the Salt Lake City Summer League record. He also became the first player. Ever Use six blocks and four 3-pointers in any NBA Summer League game. Holmgreen’s two-way set of expertise, which made it a top overall possibility on the boards of many draft analysts, was on full display Tuesday night – Stepback 3s, Open Court Ball Handling, Playmaking, Rim Protection, Transition finishing. .. Even the one-legged Dirk Nootzki’s midrange ended up being a good measure.

You may see Holmgren’s single game blocks / 3-pointers record as somewhat arbitrary, cherry-picked state, but don’t be so quick to make fun of it. This combination of distance between the rim protection and the floor at any basketball level is extremely rare, which is why Holmgreen was such a prestigious possibility. Since the NBA began recording blocks in 1982-83, a player has hit at least four 3-pointers and six blocks in just 18 games. According to Stathead (Shout out to Riff Lafrentz, who did it three times!)

Again, this is not to say that Holmgreen is going to average out 3s and blocks after the start of the real NBA games, but just the fact that he has the skills to do so, and he has already shown It can translate against professionals. , Showing off its stunning, unique roof.

Holmgreen’s inclusion in the first film to release the jaws was the attitude he later showed. As one of the most popular Instagram recruits of his generation, Holmgreen is accustomed to being in the spotlight and has always presented a turbulent and confident look to his status. Just after receiving reports that his six blocks set a Salt Lake City Summer League record, Holmgreen replied, “Only six? Is that a record? Well, I’m coming to break it again.”

I mean, come on. This is not a child who is happy to be here. This is a kid who wants to be great all the time, and who has mastered the art of doing just that in the pro game we’ve seen him play. Whether he ends up becoming an all-star or is immersed in the maze of basketball, it’s worth celebrating.

Holmgreen and 19-year-old Josh Gaddy (who scored 14 points and 11 assists in 23 minutes on Tuesday after an extraordinary rookie season) showed why OKC is one of the greatest tanking attempts in NBA history in the last two years. One is busy. Weather Between them, Shy Galgius-Alexander and Lugentz Dort, Thunder have created a legitimate youth cover that fits surprisingly well at both ends of the court.

You can expect the tanking effort to continue for at least another season as the Thunder, along with several other teams, will compete for the services of the Consensus 2023 number. 1 Total probability Victor Wembaniyama. But when the OKC finally decides to start winning games, there will be no shortage of talent, and Holmgreen could be the best of the group when everything is said and done.