Last Friday, Chet Holmgren made his long-awaited return to the OKC Thunder lineup after being shelved for roughly three months with a right iliac wing fracture.
Though only two games into his reinstatement, the big man is already having an astonishingly positive effect on the ball club, as he's sporting the fifth-highest plus-minus rating (+13.5) and the best overall net rating (29.6) on the team throughout the past four days while playing just 23.5 minutes per night.
However, easily the most noteworthy area Holmgren has had a major impact is on the defensive end, as he's now registered a truly elite defensive rating of 99.0 and is averaging a ridiculous 4.5 blocks through both games played.
Now, on the one hand, this type of production is undoubtedly exciting to see for fans and members of the Thunder. After all, adding these kinds of efforts to what is already the league's best defensive unit is an absolute luxury.
That said, in a somewhat bittersweet sense, the big man's return to action has been a grueling reminder of how Holmgren could have realistically been in the running for the illustrious Defensive Player of the Year award had it not been for his injury-induced absence.
Chet Holmgren reminding NBA of DPOY potential amid Thunder return
Before his hip injury in early November, Holmgren found himself off to a tremendous start to his sophomore campaign.
Not only was he posting new career highs in categories such as points (18.2) and rebounds (9.2) during his nine fully healthy games, but he was seemingly playing at an otherworldly level on the less glamorous side of the ball.
During this stretch, Chet placed second in the league in blocks per game (2.9) and win shares, fourth in opponent field goal percentage within six feet of the rim (42.4 percent), and first among starters with a minimum of five games played in defensive rating (96.7). Meanwhile, the Thunder boasted a ridiculous, league-leading 97.3 defensive rating with him leading the charge.
At the time, the popular narrative was that the big man was making a strong case to take home the Hakeem Olajuwon Trophy by season's end if he kept up this pace. Based on who's currently in the running, this very likely could have been the outcome.
As things currently stand, the top three players in the odds department to win DPOY are Victor Wembanyama (-2,500), Evan Mobley (+3,000), and Jaren Jackson Jr, (+3,000).
Of the bunch, only one ranks within the top 10 in the NBA in blocks (Wemby with 3.9), just one ranks in the top 15 in defensive win shares (Jackson at 14 overall), and none rank so much as in the top 50 in defensive rating.
Even with all the time he's missed, Holmgren still manages to check all of these aforementioned boxes.
On top of this, Jackson's Grizzlies and Mobley's Cavaliers barely even make the cut for the top 10 in team defensive rating at seven and eight, respectively, while current frontrunner Victor Wembanyama's Spurs place all the way down at 20.
The Thunder's rating of 104.2, however, ranks in as the top mark in the league and, as ESPN's Tim MacMahon has alluded to in the past, the higher one's team places in the defensive pecking order the better a player's odds are of taking home the Defensive Player of the Year hardware.
Unfortunately, even with his eye-test impact and advanced statistics backing, Holmgren's injury-induced hiatus has already eliminated him from contention for the acclaimed defensive moniker, as the league now only allows a player to miss 17 games before becoming ineligible for major end-of-season awards.
Already, the big man has missed 40.
Nevertheless, his ability to jump right back into his role as the anchor of this Thunder defense and make his presence felt both on the court and in the box score is truly remarkable. This should instill confidence that an All-Defensive nod and a Defensive Player of the Year award win are both highly realistic achievements that may be awaiting him as his career continues.
Had he stayed healthy, there's a chance they both would have been accomplished in 2024-25. Fortunately for the 22-year-old and, frankly, the Thunder, he's at the stage of his professional tenure where he's likely to have plenty more opportunities to do this as the seasons go by.