Beijing time on July 14th, Thunder defeated the Kings 86-80 in the Summer League. However, Holmgren, the second overall pick, did not perform well. He made 3 of 8 shots, scored 8 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 5 steals, and committed 6 fouls. . No. 4 pick Keegan Murray was in great form, scoring 29 points, 7 rebounds and 4 steals.
Murray As a forward, he is a dark horse in this year's draft. He was unknown when he graduated from high school. He was ranked outside the top 300 high school students in the United States. Only unknown universities were willing to accept him. For this reason, Murray did not enter college for the time being. After a year of hard training, he finally entered the University of Iowa. He broke out in his sophomore season and was selected by the Kings with the fourth overall pick.
Murray will be 22 years old. He is 2 years older than Holmgren and is more ready to compete in NBA games. In this game, Murray made 9 of 17 shots, 2 of 7 three-pointers, and 9 of 11 free throws. He grabbed 7 rebounds, sent 2 assists, and had 4 steals. Murray performed well both offensively and defensively.
The Kings are vigorously cultivating Murray. In the summer league scoring list, Murray is tied for fourth with an average of 24.0 points per game, only behind Cameron Thomas, Moses Moody and Trey Murphy. You must know None of these three are rookies this year. In other words, Murray's current scoring average ranks first among rookie players.
Holmgren's form has declined since he scored 23 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 6 blocks in the first summer league game. Holmgren is 2.13 meters tall and has a wingspan of 2.29 meters. He has excellent skills, but his body is too thin and his physical fitness and strength are deficient.
Holmgren still needs to be polished, and it is still unknown how it will develop in the future. In history, many thin players became successful after becoming stronger. Durant , Antetokounmpo and Gobert were all thin when they entered the NBA, but Holmgren was thinner than them, so Holmgren increased The emphasis is on the imperative. Of course, the Thunder were very firm on Holmgren. Even if Jabari Smith Jr. was not selected by the Magic, the Thunder did not select Smith and still insisted on selecting Holmgren. Keegan Murray is simply not a player the Thunder are considering.
If Jabari Smith Jr. develops much better than Holmgren in the future, maybe the Thunder will regret it. Now they can only hope that Holmgren will get stronger quickly and avoid injuries.
