Thunder’s Chet Holmgren set to return from hip injury: How he boosts OKC’s versatility

Oklahoma City Thunder star Chet Holmgren is off the team’s injury report, setting up his potential return for Friday’s game against the Toronto Raptors.

Holmgren, the former Gonzaga star who’s been out since Nov. 10 after suffering a right iliac wing fracture in his pelvis, teased his return on social media.

He sustained the hip injury after taking a hard fall on a block attempt in the first quarter of a 127-116 loss to the Golden State Warriors.

Holmgren anchored the Thunder’s league-leading defense at the time of his injury. He played in each of the Thunder’s first 10 games of the season and averaged 16.4 points and 8.7 rebounds before getting injured.

The Thunder have continued to dominate the league without Holmgren and are first in the Western Conference at 40-9.

Holmgren’s hip fracture marked his second significant injury in his young NBA career after missing his rookie season (2022-23) due to foot surgery.

How this impacts the Thunder’s rotations

Thunder coach Mark Daigneault is as flexible as they come with who he plays, including in the starting lineup. It’s possible that doesn’t change. The Thunder have rotated fifth starters this season.

Sometimes, it’s Cason Wallace. Other times, it’s Aaron Wiggins. Every once in a while, it’s Isaiah Joe.

That could continue with the return of Holmgren, who will become a consistent presence in the first unit. This is where Oklahoma City can use its versatility alongside Holmgren, MVP contender Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, All-Star wing Jalen Williams and defensive dynamo Lu Dort. They can go big on some nights, using 7-footer Isaiah Hartenstein alongside Holmgren. They can add shooting on other ones.

The Thunder are the NBA’s most versatile team, and they just added more ways they can play.

Will anyone score on Holmgren, Hartenstein?

Possibly not. The Thunder have been the NBA’s stingiest defense this season, and it’s not particularly close.

They allow just 103.9 points per 100 possessions, which tops the league by a mile. Now they have a chance to play with two of the league’s top rim protectors at the same time.

Holmgren is one of the world’s most prolific shot blockers. He averaged 2.6 blocks when he got hurt 10 games into the season, up from 2.3 as a rookie. He alters even more hopeful scorers. Opponents were shooting just 43% on dunks and layups when he was the closest defender, according to Second Spectrum.

If Holmgren qualified for the league leaders, that figure would lead the NBA. A season ago, he finished fifth in that statistic.

Hartenstein is agile defending the back ends of pick-and-rolls and doubles as another paint presence, walling off the hoop from infiltrators who dare to challenge him.

The big lineups could help with their rebounding, too. If OKC has a flaw, it’s trouble on the glass. It is 26th in defensive rebound rate at the moment. But a defense that is rolling just got back its arguably most important defender (with all due respect to Dort). Chances are, it’s about to get even better.

What does Holmgren do for OKC’s offense?

A lost element will return to the Thunder’s pick-and-roll game. Oklahoma City deploys the most egalitarian screening offense maybe in league history. Anyone can set a pick, no matter how big or small. At times, the 6-foot-3 Wallace looks like a power forward – not because of his burliness but because of how the Thunder use him. He’ll set screens and roll, as will other wings, like Wiggins.

In that sense, Hartenstein has fit in well. He is a strong screener who holds his picks on defenders, tripping them up as OKC’s lead ball handlers, Gilgeous-Alexander or Williams, maneuver around him. But Hartenstein doesn’t shoot 3s. He trails behind ballhandlers who head downhill and sets himself up for floaters, which he rarely misses. Or he receives the basketball around the free-throw line and creates for teammates from there. He is one of the best-passing centers in existence.

Holmgren plays a different style. He’s one of the few centers who can block shots and shoot 3s well enough that defenses must follow him beyond the arc. He can pop off those screens in a way Hartenstein can’t. Last season, the Thunder averaged 1.18 points per possession when he ran pick-and-rolls with Williams, according to Second Spectrum. That figure with Gilgeous-Alexander was at 1.13.