Tuesday night, the Oklahoma City Thunder's future prospects appeared to get a massive jolt in the right direction. Their prized draft pick, Chet Holmgren, had an outstanding performance in his first Summer League game. He dropped 23 points on just nine shots, finishing with six blocks and four treys. He became the first player in Summer League history to do those last two things in the same game. Well, on Wednesday, they were brought down to Earth a bit by the Memphis Grizzlies.
The Thunder were squaring off against the Grizzlies in Summer League action. Memphis' un-drafted rookie, Kenny Lofton Jr., showed exactly what you need to do to slow Holmgren down. You need to bully him and use your size and strength.
Kenny Lofton Jr. bullies Chet Holmgren and scores 💪🏽😤pic.twitter.com/ZUrysqmtud
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) July 7, 2022
Lofton Jr. physically manhandled Holmgren in the paint, shoving him under the basket for a lay-in. A couple possessions later, he did it again from the other side of the court. That forced the Thunder rookie to play off of him more. The Grizzlies youngster took advantage and pulled up and nailed a trey in his face.
That caught Grizzlies superstar Ja Morant's attention.
kenny lofton 😂😮💨
— Ja Morant (@JaMorant) July 6, 2022
Memphis is going to be looking for some front court help early on this season. Jaren Jackson Jr., one of the NBA's premier shot-blockers, had surgery recently and will be out for four to six months.
The Grizzlies signed Lofton Jr. to a two-way deal a couple of weeks ago. Every team is allowed to sign two players who do not count toward the salary cap nor the 15-man roster. But if Lofton Jr. continues to play like this, they might have add him to the official roster.
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