Isaiah Hartenstein may not be a household name, but if everything goes as planned for Oklahoma City Thunder general manager Sam Presti, that could soon change. Coming off of a season in which he averaged career highs in minutes (25.3), rebounds (8.3), assists (2.5) and steals (1.2) per game, Hartenstein signed a three-year, $87 million deal with the Thunder, giving head coach Mark Daigneault a different sort of interior presence which he didn’t have last year while coaching the Thunder to a 57-25 record, a mark that was good for 1st place in the crowded Western Conference.
Despite being part of the 2017 NBA Draft class, Isaiah Hartenstein is only 26 years old, fitting in nicely with the very young and uber-talented core that Presti has built in Oklahoma City. Factoring in their future draft picks and cap flexibility, ESPN’s Zach Lowe recently argued that no team in NBA history has been in a better position to succeed in both the present and the future as the Thunder are at this present moment. And that’s even if Hartenstein doesn’t expand his game and start shooting three’s with his arrival in Oklahoma City.
Isaiah Hartenstein said he absolutely sees himself getting back to shooting 3’s mentioned that’s a way to expand his game and become more versatile pic.twitter.com/sQbs7bSve9
— Rylan Stiles (@Rylan_Stiles) July 6, 2024
Hartenstein was just 1-for-3 from downtown last season with the Knicks, but is 27-for-87 (31 percent) for his career, which includes a scalding hot 14-for-30 from three-point range during this 2021-22 season with the Los Angeles Clippers. Even if Hartenstein could shoot a reasonable percentage on one pick and pop top of the key three per game, it would be a welcomed dynamic for a Thunder team that was just 16th in 3-point attempts last season, despite leading the league in three-point shooting percentage.
Twin Towers in Oklahoma City
Isaiah Hartenstein can talk all he wants about shooting more three-pointers next season, but that’s not the reason he was so highly coveted by the Thunder. One of the common critiques of the Thunder roster last season was that Oklahoma City was too thin up front. Holmgren doesn’t necessarily have the beef that the 250-pound Hartenstein does, so Hartenstein provides the Thunder some much-needed insurance for matchups against some of the league’s best big-bodied scorers, such as Joel Embiid and Nikola Jokic, allowing Chet to roam more freely and serve as a destructive help-side defender. Holmgren and Hartenstein on the floor together could prove to be a headache for any teams trying to score in the paint against OKC.
Among the 101 players who defended at least 300 field goal attempts inside of 6 feet during the 2023-24 season, Holmgren and Hartenstein both ranked in the top ten in field goal percentage allowed, according to NBA.com. Factor the rest of the Thunder roster, which includes a number of long and active perimeter defenders such as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Lu Dort, and it’s possible that the Thunder will improve about their 4th-ranked defense next season.
“Defensively, having 2 of the top rim protectors on the court at the same time is not easy. I’m really excited,” Hartenstein said on Saturday afternoon, per Clemente Almanza of The Thunder Wire. Hartenstein then added, “He’s very talented and I think with my IQ, I’ll have to do a little bit more of the dirty work so he can chill.”
As for a stat that indicates just how talented Chet Holmgren is, last year he became the first player in NBA history to reach 150 blocks, 150 assists and 100 three-pointers made in a single season. He was later joined in this exclusive club by 2023-24 Rookie of the Year Victor Wembanyama.