The Oklahoma City Thunder made a strategic move on July 1 that catapulted them into a new tier of the NBA, positioning them as legitimate contenders for the 2024-25 NBA Title. This move was the signing of free agent center Isaiah Hartenstein.
Hartenstein, a career backup center, saw his role change halfway through the 2023-24 season with the New York Knicks, as starting center Mitchell Robinson missed time due to injury. Oklahoma City seized the opportunity and picked up the 7-foot-1 big man, a 50-pound upgrade from Chet Holmgren, who was often outmatched in the trenches when fighting for rebounds.
I’m here to set something straight: Hartenstein isn’t prime Pau Gasol, Kevin Love, Joel Embiid, or any all-star caliber center. He’s also not a bum that doesn’t add supreme value to OKC.
He’s 26 and breaking into a new role on a contending team, so he may take a giant leap, but as of now, he’s not. He’s also not OKC’s third star. These are all things I’ve seen people mention on the overreaction platforms of X, Instagram, and Facebook.
Another star would overload Oklahoma City with top-end talent, and we’ve seen how that works. Presti is more meticulous with his moves this offseason, better evaluating OKC’s strengths and weaknesses and putting the perfect players around his star talent. Harternstein provides just that.
Despite OKC’s fourth-best defensive rating in the league, they had the third-worst rebounding rate at 48.4%. In 25 minutes per game, Hartenstein averaged a career-high 8.3 rebounds, 20th in the league. He also ranked in the 97th percentile in offensive rebounds, per NBA University, and has a great touch around the rim, ranking in the 98th percentile in floaters, with a 64% true shooting percentage.
Two significant reasons the Thunder lost the Western Conference Semifinals to the Mavericks were offensive rebounds and the lack of one extra perimeter defender.
Dallas won the offensive rebound battle 73-58 through the series, outscoring OKC 97-68 in second-chance points. I specifically remember rookie center Dereck Lively II having the game of his life in Game 6, scoring 12 points and 15 rebounds, four of which were offensive, for 6 points. I think Hartenstein helps suppress those types of occurrences.
This cherry-on-top addition isn’t special for the Thunder because Hartenstein’s a world-class center right now, but he’s just enough to clean up OKC’s biggest weakness, which barred them from being the youngest team in NBA history to reach the Western Conference Finals.
Always have your finger on the pulse. Excellently written story and analysis. Great explanation of what Isiah brings and mean to the team.
The best evaluation of the trade that has been mentioned to date. Stephen A take note!!!