OKC Thunder headed for another tank season after Chet Holmgren injury news

The OKC Thunder may have to embrace the tank again this year after No. 2 overall draft pick Chet Holmgren suffered a potentially major foot injury

Fans of the Oklahoma City Thunder have had to live through a couple of miserable seasons, winning just 46 total games over the last two years, but the payoff was supposed to have arrived this year with No. 2 overall draft pick Chet Holmgren joining the team.

OKC may have to be patient a little while longer though because the universe has decided they can’t have nice things yet.

Holmgren, the hoped-for future of the franchise, has suffered a potentially serious foot injury.

Chet Holmgren injury: Thunder rookie has ligament damage

“There’s fear Oklahoma City Thunder No. 2 pick Chet Holmgren has suffered ligament damage in his foot and he is undergoing further opinions,” Shams Charania tweeted on Wednesday.

A few minutes later, Charania added to the story.

“Exams show Chet Holmgren has potential torn ligaments in his foot, sources said. A timetable is being determined based on further evaluations,” he tweeted.

Torn ligaments definitely aren’t the kind of thing with a short rehab prognosis. However, we don’t know the extent of the tears or what kind of treatment plan the team and player will decide.

Holmgren appeared to suffer the injury during the Crawsover Pro-Am over the weekend while he was guarding LeBron James on a fast break.

There were a bunch of other NBA stars participating in the weekend’s activities, including LeBron and No. 1 overall pick Paolo Banchero. Holmgren was just the unlucky one who had an injury potentially impact his 2022-23 campaign.

Charania also reported that the game Holgrem participated in had to be stopped due to unsafe, slippery court conditions (subscription required).

We’ll have to wait to find out just how bad this injury news is but it’s an unfortunate development for Holmgren and the Thunder.

Holmgren was a five-star prospect in high school and lived up to the hype in college at Gonzaga. He was expected to be the No. 1 overall pick before the Magic surprised everyone and took Banchero instead. He fell into OKC’s lap as a result.