Chet Holmgren seems primed for superstardom

The highlight moment came when Holmgren blocked Nikola Jokic and followed it up with a nasty poster dunk on the other end. Holmgren thoroughly outplayed Jokic, the reigning MVP viewed by many as the best player in the world, during the Thunder's 102-87 rout of the Nuggets.

Last season, Holmgren deferred to SGA and Jalen Williams, the Thunder's top two scorers, and scored most of his points within the flow of the offense. That meant spotting up for threes, cleaning up on the glass for putbacks or cutting to rim off misdirections and screens. 

This season, though, Thunder coach Mark Daigneault is making a concerted effort to run plays for Holmgren, who received plenty of touches around the rim on Thursday, finishing with 18 paint points. In comparison, the 7-foot-1 big man made only 2.3 field goals per game in the paint last season, with most of his shots around the restricted area coming off either alley-oops or putback dunks.  

Holmgren was also an absolute beast on defense, contesting 11 two-point shots by Denver at the rim and tallying four blocks. To put things in perspective, no other player on either team contested even six two-point shots.

It was evident Holmgren was not shying away from contact on either end of the floor. The 22-year-old credited his newfound physicality to the pounds he gained in the offseason.

All signs point to Holmgren leaping to superstardom this season. He is almost a shoo-in to make the All-Star team, and it'll be a travesty if he doesn't make an All-Defensive team.