Chet Holmgren appears to have fixed what was not necessarily broken.
The Oklahoma City Thunder big man Holmgren was the subject of a viral video taken before Monday’s preseason game against the San Antonio Spurs. The video, filmed by Joel Lorenzi of The Oklahoman, showed Holmgren shooting warmup shots with an apparently different form.
Holmgren seemingly changed his hand placement on his jumper, resulting in his guide hand coming off the ball before his release. Here is the video.
Chet’s jumper looks different. Hand placement especially. pic.twitter.com/9Ux8E2qNam
— Joel Lorenzi (@jxlorenzi) October 7, 2024
Lorenzi also shared another angle of Holmgren shooting from the top of the three-point arc.
Another angle, for those curious pic.twitter.com/fTRiBaZlxx
— Joel Lorenzi (@jxlorenzi) October 7, 2024
That looks like a lot less fluid of a jumper from Holmgren and almost more of a slingshot motion. While Holmgren still sank almost all of those warmup shots that he took (at least in the first video), it definitely did not seem to be a very smooth shot release at all.
The 22-year-old Holmgren was an All-Rookie First Team selection last year, averaging 16.5 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 2.5 blocks per contest. He is also somewhat of a perimeter-oriented player, shooting 4.3 three-pointers per game last season and connecting on them at a 37.0 percent clip.
If nothing else, Holmgren’s new shooting form appears to have succeeded in terms of allowing him to get more arc on his jumper. But for a young player who already faced concerns this offseason that he is still looking very skinny some two-plus years now after being drafted, Holmgren’s reworked shot is now something else to look out for heading into the 2024-25 season.
