Chet Holmgren provides injury update following season

Oklahoma City Thunder rookie Chet Holmgren said over the weekend that he is progressing in his recovery from a Lisfranc injury and is working toward resuming 5-on-5 workouts.

Holmgren missed the season after undergoing surgery in August to address the injury in his right foot. He went under the knife again in December in a scheduled procedure to remove hardware from his foot.

The second pick has since been spotted doing various exercises and on-court drills. He was seen dunking last month following a practice, which was one of the few times the public has seen him do so.

He offered a progress update at his end-of-season press conference.

I’m pretty much past the rehab part of this journey, I guess you could say. I’m progressing more into the 5-on-5 stuff and kind of taking away any restrictions that I have to this point. … I feel great. I’ve had a great team around me helping me get back to a great point. There has been a great plan in place and I feel like I’ve followed that to a tee and it has got me in a great spot.

Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault has said Holmgren was in great spirits during his recovery. He had the full support of the team throughout the year and commended the organization for implementing a great rehabilitation plan.

The second pick learned quite a bit about the league, despite not playing and even believes he managed to improve in some areas, including his shot. He was able to spend countless time in the gym working with the coaching staff to refine it in his quest to be an elite shooter.

There is a lot I learned. I had a front-row seat to the class of getting buckets, watching Shai (Gilgeous-Alexander) go out there and all of the other dudes, too. It was great for me to be able to watch — how other teams play different styles — and really be able to pick up as much as I can from that and take down all of the knowledge so I can use it going forward.

Holmgren appears to be nearing the end of his rehab process and is eager to get back onto the court in a competitive game setting. He left the door open to playing in summer league but concluded that a final decision would be made at a later date.

“I’m focused on following the plan we have in place,” Holmgren said. “When that comes and if it’s part of the plan, I’ll follow the plan like I have up until this point.”