When Oklahoma City Thunder general manager Sam Presti was asked if he had any regrets drafting Chet Holmgren, the NBA executive gave the best response he could.
“If you asked me before the lottery… you could pick between one or you could pick eight, or the other option is you could have Chet Holmgren, but you have to wait a year to get him — I would not let you finish the sentence,” explains Presti.
GM Sam Presti on Chet Holmgren:
“If you asked me before the lottery… you could pick between one or you could pick eight, or, the other option is you could have Chet Holmgren, but you have to wait a year to get him — I would not let you finish the sentence.”
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) August 25, 2022
To explain his comment, Presti would rather wait a season to draft a player like Holmgren rather than take his chances on other top draft prospects.
Regardless of injuries, the Thunder G.M. would take a talented star over a dime-a-dozen role player any day of the week. Die-hard fans would agree with him. Look at Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant.
Thunder G.M. Sam Presti has no regrets drafting Chet Holmgren
Of course, Presti’s statement comes one day after it was revealed that Holmgren would miss the entire 2022-23 season. He suffered a Lisfranc injury to his right foot while guarding LeBron James during the CrawsOver Pro-Am League event in Seattle.
In five games played with the Thunder in the NBA 2K23 Summer League, Holmgren averaged 14 points and 8.4 rebounds per game.
Last month, Holmgren signed a four-year, rookie-scale contract with the team. He will make $9,891,240 in the 2022-23 season. Then, Holmgren will earn $10,386,000 in the 2023-24 season.
The center has a 2024-25 team option worth $10,880,640 and another team option set at $13,731,368 in the 2025-26 season.
“Something positive will come from this as long as we take it in and understand that. We have to have humility and we have to have gratitude as we deal with the setback.”
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) August 25, 2022
On Thursday, Presti released this statement on Holmgren’s injury: “Certainly, we are disappointed for Chet, especially given the excitement he had about getting on the floor with his teammates this season.”
“We know Chet has a long career ahead of him within our organization and the Oklahoma City community,” continued Presti. “One of the things that most impressed us during the process of…