The Oklahoma City Thunder announced that Chet Holmgren underwent treatment on Friday to address a small patellar tendon tear in his right knee, an issue that will keep him out of the lineup for the next 8-10 weeks. With Jalen Williams out for the season following a gruesome leg injury and Cason Wallace set to miss most of the season after surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder, the Thunder are now without three of their top six players on the roster less than a month into the season. The Thunder are off to a 4-1 start so far, but a lopsided loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday night with Holmgren out offered a glimpse into how challenging life will be with another star on the shelf.
For a team that began the season as the co-favorites in the Western Conference alongside the San Antonio Spurs with a win total over 60, now they face a challenge maintaining a spot in the top four in the West after losing so much of their expected production two weeks into the season. Oklahoma City has been dominant in recent seasons largely due to its tremendous depth, but this summer saw them take the first steps in shedding that due to the perils of the second apron and rising costs of keeping a talented young core together. Gone are three established contributors in Lu Dort, Aaron Wiggins and Isaiah Joe, and while those were understandable cost-cutting measures, they exacerbate the challenge of dealing with serious injuries to key players at all three levels of the floor.
If there's a silver lining, it's that Holmgren's injury will only cost him a couple of months. But with Wallace and Williams out, losing one of the league's best rim protectors will be extremely difficult to deal with. This was already going to be a challenging season for coach Mark Daigneault without two key backcourt stars, but now he has to shuffle his lineups across the board with Holmgren out.
The Thunder probably hoped to bring their rookie big man along slowly, but with Holmgren out, the 7-foot-3 center out of Michigan will have to take on a larger spot in the rotation. Mara impressed in spot duty in his debut against Victor Wembanyama on opening night, showing why the Thunder drafted him to combat their chief rival with a rare player with the size and length to bother him -- and alleviate the stress Holmgren faces dealing with Wemby. Mara then picked up his first double-double in a win over the Phoenix Suns on Monday, as he got his first extended burn with Holmgren out, scoring 11 points and pulling down 10 boards in 20 minutes.
He was less effective in 21 minutes against the Mavs, and the Thunder will have to navigate the ups and downs of the rookie experience as Mara gets more comfortable in his expanded role. Offensively, Mara is a play-finisher at the rim. So far this season, 80% of his field goal attempts have come within four feet of the rim and 75% of his attempts have come off of zero dribbles.
With Mara on the floor, the offense has to adjust compared to what they can do with the rest of their center rotation. Where Isaiah Hartenstein can be a high post hub and Holmgren and Jaylin Williams can space the floor, Mara has less variability to his game. That doesn't mean he can't be effective, but it does require an adjustment on Oklahoma City's end to put him in the right spots and find ways to still create space for others when he's on the floor.
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