Too many miles on the tires?

 A month or so ago, the Oklahoma City Thunder shelled out a potential $44 million over four years for their beanpole No. 2 draft pick, 7-foot-1, 195-pound Chet Holmgren. Yesterday the news broke he will miss his entire rookie season with a foot injury.  

And how did he get the foot injury, you ask?

Well, not shoveling snow back home in Minneapolis, that's for sure.

He got it chasing LeBron James on a fastbreak in a glorified pickup game.

Now, you might assume the Thunder front office would be a tad steamed at the kid for that. But you'd be wrong.

No, sir. Not a discouraging word was heard from Thunder GM Sam Presti, who said only that the club was "disappointed for Chet" and that "guys are playing all over the place, all the time, everywhere. If you have players that love to play, they are going to play basketball."

Then he said this:  "Every time you step on a basketball court, something like this could happen. It could happen in a game. It could happen in a practice. It could happen in a scrimmage ..."

Yes, well, except it didn't. It happened in something called the CrawsOver Pro-Am in Seattle, where the court was so slippery the game was eventually called in the second quarter.

This is not to be confused with the NBA's own summer league, or the Drew League, or any of a number of offseason events in which NBA players participate. There are so many, in fact, that the concept of an offseason doesn't exist anymore. 

The cranky old man in me wonders why NBA execs are OK with this.

The cranky old man wonders why, when Presti said players are playing all over the place, all the time, everywhere, he didn't add "... the dumbasses."

Because, listen, the Thunder dropped a bundle on young Chet, just like other clubs have dropped a bundle on Jayson Tatum, top pick Paolo Banchero, Dejounte Murray and Aaron Gordon. All of them also played in the event in Seattle.

The question is, why?

The other question is, why do NBA front offices merely shrug about it, given that these guys represent a massive investment for them?

Good lord, LeBron just signed a two-year, $97.1-million extension with the Lakers, the largest in NBA history. And he's pushing 40. 

And yet there he was in Seattle, playing on that treacherous court. There he was, playing in the Drew League. There he was, at 37, after missing 26 games with various injuries last season, his 19th in the league.

That's a lot of miles on those tires. And with miles comes wear. And with wear comes injury. And yet he's still playing -- a bunch of them are still playing -- all summer long?

The NBA allows for this, and likely there's some sort of business arrangement/contractual clauses that cover the particulars for each player. Which is why none of the clubs forking over the GDP of Lichtenstein for these guys is publicly squawking. 

But don't you wish just once an NBA executive would channel his inner AJ Preller?

Preller, remember, is the San Diego Padres GM who (perhaps unwisely) basically called star shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. an idiot because he showed red for a banned substance a couple of weeks ago. I can't but think Sam Presti isn't thinking along the same lines right now.

"What are you, nuts?" his inner Preller might be saying.

Or, "What were you thinking, you dumb kid?" 

Or, "It's August, for God's sake. Why are you playing in some nothing event in Seattle when we just signed you for 44 million freaking dollars? Are you trying to bankrupt the organization?"

But, nah. None of that. Even though Holcomb is done before he's even started, at least for now.

Shhh. Listen. Was that a scream I just heard from Presti's office?

Nope. Just the wind, apparently, sweepin' down the Oklahoma plain.