A summer filled with celebration nears its end. Only a little over a month exists until the Oklahoma City Thunder start the 2025-26 regular season. The NBA champion has enjoyed its accomplishments, but soon a new marathon will start with them at the top.

Bringing back mostly the same roster, the Thunder are the consensus title favorite. They’re viewed as a team that could pull off the rare feat of being a back-to-back NBA champion. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren all signed contract extensions this offseason to keep their title window wide open.

To prepare for the 2025-26 regular season, Thunder Wire will lay out three goals for all 17 players on the roster. OKC has 15 standard players and two two-way players. Let’s look at Isaiah Hartenstein and what he could accomplish this upcoming year:

Average another double-double

Last year was a career season across the board for Hartenstein. After being a career journeyman, he finally broke out and established himself as one of the better centers. He averaged a double-double at career-best marks of 11.2 points and 10.7 rebounds. He’s had an abnormal route to get to this point, but it’s now about maintaining that productivity if you’re the 27-year-old.

The Thunder went from one of the worst rebound teams to one of the better ones thanks to Hartenstein. The seven-footer provided true size and strength to battle on the boards. It’s a player archetype OKC hasn’t had since Steven Adams was around. A second straight double-double season would benefit all sides as the rest of the NBA starts to realize how good a player he is.

Remain a starter

Part of Hartenstein’s ascension was his job promotion. He was a Knicks starter after Mitchell Robinson was injured. In a similar situation with rotating injuries, he was thrown into a Thunder starter role. It was the most games he’s started in his career, with 53 out of 57 games. That continued in the playoffs with 20 out of 23 starts. While Cason Wallace might occasionally get the fifth starter spot, it should be mostly the seven-footer’s spot.

Hartenstein has spent time in the offseason with Chet Holmgren. Despite some inconsistencies, OKC’s double-big lineup led them to an NBA championship. You don’t change that for the sake of it. Both seven-footers complement each other very well. In Hartenstein’s case, he’s a bruising, old-school center who’s shown he can be a secondary playmaker with the bench lineups.

Sign extension with Thunder

While the Thunder will run it back with mostly the same roster, they could see some changes. They signed Gilgeous-Alexander, Williams and Holmgren to contract extensions this offseason. Expect all three to take up most of OKC’s payroll for the foreseeable future. That could mean some difficult decisions elsewhere on the roster to avoid the Second Apron.

In Hartenstein’s case, he has a $28.5 million team option for the 2026-27 season. The widely held belief is that the Thunder would decline it. That may be different now with Thomas Sorber’s torn ACL. But there’s always the option that OKC goes the decline-and-sign route. If they like what he brings to the court, they could find a way to extend him to a new deal. It just means they might need to make roster sacrifices elsewhere.