It’s no secret that Chet Holmgren struggled in the postseason this year. The Oklahoma City Thunder were bounced by the San Antonio Spurs in Game 7, and Holmgren failed to help Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on the offensive end the entire series. He needs to take a page out of Karl-Anthony Towns’ book moving forward.
The New York Knicks traded for Towns in order to give Jalen Brunson some better offensive support. And now, look at them. The Knicks are in the NBA Finals. Holmgren has to take a page out of Towns’ book moving forward. Even if Jalen Williams and Ajay Mitchell are healthy, the Thunder will still need more offense out of Holmgren.
He needs to learn a bit from Towns’ offensive aggressiveness moving forward.
Chet Holmgren needs to learn from Karl-Anthony Towns' offensive aggressiveness
Towns doesn’t always have to be the focal point of the Knicks’ offense. In fact, he often defers to Brunson, who is the top dog in New York. And that works for the Knicks.
However, when Brunson checks out of the game – or if he just doesn’t really have it that night – then Towns steps up on the offensive end. He can shoot threes, drive to the hoop, and when he needs to be, he can be super aggressive.
That’s why the Knicks traded Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo for him. They wanted a big man who could bring them something on the offensive end as a complementary piece and as an offensive leader when needed.
Holmgren needs to start copying a little bit of what KAT brings to the table. Obviously, they are different players, but Holmgren could stand to take a little bit of KAT’s game and apply it to his own.
When the lights were brightest this year, Holmren wasn’t nearly aggressive enough on offense. And even when he was sharing the floor with SGA, he wasn’t providing enough offensive support.
That’s exactly what KAT does for Brunson. For OG Anunoby. For Mikal Bridges. For Josh Hart. He’ll look for his own shot when needed and give the Knicks a boost on offense.
The Thunder didn’t get that from Holmgren this postseason, especially in the Western Conference finals, and it was a major problem against the Spurs.
If the Thunder got any semblance of offensive consistency from Holmgren in the WCF, perhaps they would have made their second straight NBA Finals. But they didn’t.
So, this summer, Holmgren should learn from KAT. It would greatly benefit SGA and the Thunder.
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