The Oklahoma City Thunder’s second overall 2022 NBA Draft team wore the blue jersey for the first time Tuesday in the NBA Summer League. The Summer League is an off-season competition in which teams play predominantly novice players, sophomores and NBA outfielders to give minutes to develop talent and see who fits and who doesn’t.
In the 98-77 victory over the Utah Jazz, Holmgren stunned fans in his 24 minutes on the court, setting records as he went.
The 20-year-old finished with 23 points, including 4 of 6 attempts from three points, seven rebounds and four assists.
He also finished with six blocks, the largest in an NBA Summer League game.
When he was later told he had broken the lock record, Holmgren said he wanted more. “Only six? Is that the record? Oh well, I’m coming to break it again,” he told ESPN in his post-match television interview.
According to ESPN, Holmgren became the first player in the history of the Summer League to record at least five blocks and hit four triples.
Playing alongside much of the Thunder’s wide range of young talent (Josh Giddey, Aleksej Pokusevski, Jaylin Williams and Jalen Williams), Holmgren’s size and shooting ability stood out immediately.
Gonzaga’s seven-footer closed the paint with his size and showed some of the cunning offensive skills he has already learned.
He sank the ball with emphasis to score his first points, hit a three-point shot in front of a seven-foot, six-foot Tacko Fall, and hit a missing shot in mid-range that bore a strange resemblance to the Hall of Fame member. NBA fame Dirk Nowitzki. .
“He calls on my teammates to set me up, talk to me, just put me in position to succeed,” Holmgren said, with his arm around Giddey.
“Call this guy from here,” he said, pointing to Giddey. “Double-double with assists. Great night for him and that helped me a lot.”
Giddey was effusive in his praise of Holmgren. “The hype he came in with, the way he played tonight was great for us,” the Australian guard said.
“Being a tall team like this, there’s a lot of pressure, and he handled it as well as he could. It makes my job easier to play with someone like him. He can stretch the floor, finish on the edge. He protects me, he has me. given my back to the defensive. So I like to play with him. It’s been a game and the chemistry is just getting stronger. “
The Thunder coaching staff was also impressed by Holmgren’s debut performance.
“I thought he was very good offensively. What impressed me most about him was how well he played with our style,” said Kameron Woods, coach of the Thunder Summer League team.
“Obviously he played a great game, but the most impressive thing for me was that he did it within our offense. He looked like team basketball and he found success in what we’re doing.”