If recent rumors are true, it looks like Oklahoma City Thunder rookie Chet Holmgren never wanted to be drafted by the Orlando Magic.

Holmgren was largely considered the best player in the Class of 2022 and was expected to go no. 1 to the Magic in the draft. However, he fell to no. 2 instead where the Thunder picked him. Oklahoma had long been linked with Holmgren, but since he could go first overall, there was no assurance he'd end up in OKC.

Interestingly, according to Jeremy Woo of Sports Illustrated, there were talks that Holmgren preferred going to Oklahoma City, so much so that his camp even set the stage for him to be available when the Thunder picks second.

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Per Woo: According to multiple sources with knowledge of the situation, Holmgren bailed early on the last day of his Orlando visit, conducting a brief on-court shooting workout that he cut short. While I don’t know whether that impacted anything with the Magic’s decision at No. 1, objectively, it’s very hard to use a high-stakes draft pick on a player that doesn’t truly want to be part of your team.

As Woo noted, it is unknown if it pushed the Magic away from drafting Chet Holmgren–they ended up taking Paolo Banchero at no. 1–but it could have probably affected their decision.

For what it's worth, Holmgren might have hinted as well that he wanted to go to the Thunder all along instead of the Magic. In his introductory press conference, he did say it is where he wanted to be while raving about his fit with Josh Giddey and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.