The Oklahoma City Thunder will enter the 2024-25 NBA season with arguably the most to prove. That's not to mention the players on their roster who are in for a crucial year in their long-term development.
Rattling off 57 wins and securing the No. 1 seed a season ago threw out virtually all indications that the team will continue to be treated as a fun underdog story. Now, it is all about catching and surpassing the many set expectations.
Which Thunder player is on the hot seat?
Oklahoma City will be spearheaded by its trio for many years, starting with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who nabbed consecutive All-NBA First Team selections in the last two seasons. But not far behind him in terms of overall expectations -- especially in the long term -- is rising 22-year-old big man Chet Holmgren.
In a recent article, Bleacher Report's Zach Buckley penned a list of which player on each team has the "most to prove" in the upcoming 2024 season. For the Thunder, that player is Chet, who, despite assembling a season good enough to earn him a spot on the All-Rookie Team, has more to showcase as a sophomore.
"By any measure, Chet Holmgren's rookie run was a smashing success," Buckley wrote. "It was also perhaps not quite what Oklahoma City needs if it's going to make a championship push. Holmgren was a helpful paint protector and support scorer. Having said that, he did get pushed around on the glass, didn't show much shot-creation, and really tailed off as a three-point shooter. He went from hitting 39.3 percent of his long-range looks before the All-Star break to converting just 32.5 percent after, and his connection rate fell further to 26 percent in the playoffs."
Should Chet's regressed outside shooting in the second half of last season overshadow an otherwise spectacular season? That is certainly arguable. However, the big man will undoubtedly see more opportunities from the 3-point line next season, mainly because of the free-agent addition of Isaiah Hartenstein.
An elevated volume of long-range attempts will give us an accurate reading of where the big man is as a shooter, which may always be the biggest determiner of how explosive his skill set will be as he matures through his development.
That said, Holmgren has displayed a strong shooting profile for years, stretching back to his time at Gonzaga, where he ripped off a ten-game stretch of shooting 19-of-34 from the perimeter as he grew his stock as an incoming top-two or three draft choice.
Overall, No. 7 still finished the season with an impressive 37% on over four attempts per game from beyond the arc. While neither is a strong indication that he'll evolve into the center's version of Steph Curry, it certainly indicates that he's a 7-footer with a quality outside touch.
Related: What is the boldest prediction for Chet Holmgren as a sophomore?