{"id":191211,"date":"2025-07-24T07:24:14","date_gmt":"2025-07-24T07:24:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/191211\/"},"modified":"2025-07-24T07:24:14","modified_gmt":"2025-07-24T07:24:14","slug":"thunder-center-was-worth-every-penny","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/191211\/","title":{"rendered":"Thunder center was worth every penny"},"content":{"rendered":"

Editor\u2019s note: As an annual end-of-season exercise, The Oklahoman publishes a series of report cards on each of the Thunder\u2019s main roster players. Grades will be curved relative to role and expectations. Next up: Isaiah Hartenstein.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The biggest free agent signee in Thunder<\/a> history paid off. Isaiah Hartenstein<\/a> was worth every penny of his $30 million contract \u2014\u00a0which more than doubled Hartenstein\u2019s career earnings. He was worth Sam Presti<\/a> flying to Eugene, Oregon, to woo the former New York Knick to small-market Oklahoma City. When you win a championship, it\u2019s all worth it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hartenstein gave the Thunder what it previously lacked: interior size and rebounding.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The 7-foot, 255-pound center \u2014\u00a0equipped with his patented push shot and guard-like passing instincts \u2014\u00a0also gave coach Mark Daigneault<\/a> options. The option to use Hartenstein alongside Chet Holmgren in a double-big tandem, but also to deploy Hartenstein as a second-unit offensive hub. If someone cut to the hoop, Hartenstein would find them.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Hartenstein\/Holmgren combo remains a work in progress. Hartenstein missed the first 15 games of the season with a fracture in his left hand. By the time he made his Thunder debut in late November, Holmgren had already suffered a hip injury that would sideline him until early February.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hartenstein and Holmgren only played in 20 regular season games together. The Thunder, in the 316 minutes they shared, outscored opponents by 13.5 points per 100 possessions. In 239 playoff minutes, lineups that included Hartenstein and Holmgren had a 5.1 net rating.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hartenstein started all but three playoff games \u2014\u00a0Games 1 through 3 of the NBA Finals against the Pacers. Daigneault opted to go smaller with guard Cason Wallace in place of Hartenstein, but Daigneault went back to Hartenstein to start in Games 4 through 7.\u00a0<\/p>\n

After playing a critical role in the Denver series, battling Nikola Jokic and scoring in double figures in five of the seven games, Hartenstein\u2019s minutes dipped in the conference finals and NBA Finals. Some of that was matchup-based. Some of it was Hartenstein struggling to impact games in the same way as he did in the regular season.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hartenstein, who turned 27 in May, is just now entering his prime. He\u2019s only emerged as a starting caliber center in the last two seasons.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In Year 1 in Oklahoma City, Hartenstein ingratiated himself in the community as much as Sam Presti said he\u2019s ever seen of a newcomer.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt needs to be spoken and said out loud,\u201d Presti said in his postseason news conference. \u201cIncredible commitment from Day 1.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Pre-order our new book on Thunder’s first title<\/a><\/p>\n

Isaiah Hartenstein by the numbers<\/p>\n

53: Hartenstein made a career-high 53 starts (out of the 57 games he played). He started in 20 of the Thunder\u2019s 23 playoff games. His 27.9 minutes per game were also a career-high. After logging a total of 16 starts in his first five NBA seasons, Hartenstein has made 102 starts in his last two seasons \u2014\u00a053 starts with the Thunder and 49 for the Knicks in 2023-24.\u00a0<\/p>\n

10.7: Hartenstein led the Thunder in rebounds with 10.7 per game. Had he qualified \u2014\u00a0Hartenstein was one game shy of the 58-game minimum to qualify for the league leaderboard \u2014\u00a0Hartenstein would\u2019ve ranked eighth in the NBA in rebounds per game. His 2.9 offensive rebounds per game would\u2019ve been tied for 11th.\u00a0<\/p>\n

0 of 19: In the 1990-91 season, Clippers guard Tom Garrick went 0 of 22 from 3-point range. Garrick holds the NBA record for most 3-point attempts in a season without a make. Behind Garrick is Lakers Hall of Famer Magic Johnson, who shot 0 of 21 from 3 in 1982-83. And tied for third on this brick list are Hartenstein and former Bulls guard Gene Banks, both of whom went 0 of 19 from 3 in a season.\u00a0<\/p>\n

More: Who will OKC Thunder sign for final two-way contract? Examining options for 2025-26 season<\/a><\/p>\n

Isaiah Hartenstein offseason homework\u00a0<\/p>\n

Defending without fouling: His 3.9 fouls per 36 minutes were the most of any Thunder rotational player. Free-throw shooting: Hartenstein was fourth on the Thunder in free throw attempts per game and 15th in free-throw percentage (67.5%).\u00a0<\/p>\n

More: Thunder exits NBA Summer League with ‘a lot of positives’ after semifinal loss vs Hornets<\/a><\/p>\n

Isaiah Hartenstein grade: A-\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hartenstein was a perfect fit in Oklahoma City. He helped keep the Thunder afloat \u2014\u00a0OK, more than afloat \u2014\u00a0when Holmgren was out. Hartenstein took a slight step back in the playoffs, but does the Thunder beat the Nuggets without him? Probably not. That series was tough enough with him. Daigneault very quickly pivoted from Holmgren to Hartenstein as the primary defender on Jokic.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Thunder report card schedule\u00a0<\/p>\n

In his championship parade address, Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt announced that Thunder chairman Clay Bennett, general manager Sam Presti, coach Mark Daigneault and every Thunder player would be honored with their own official day in Oklahoma City.\u00a0<\/p>\n

We\u2019re following Holt\u2019s schedule, publishing each player\u2019s report card on their respective day.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Joe Mussatto is a sports columnist for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Joe? Email him at jmussatto@oklahoman.com. Support Joe’s work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Editor\u2019s note: As an annual end-of-season exercise, The Oklahoman publishes a series of report cards on each of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":191212,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3783],"tags":[7,618,366,311,1501,948,619,947,949,266,54,79,70,85,6,1220,67,310,475,179,3966,3965,61,134,132,66,83,55,312,264,283],"class_list":{"0":"post-191211","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-oklahoma-city-thunder","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-chet","10":"tag-chet-holmgren","11":"tag-city","12":"tag-finals","13":"tag-hartenstein","14":"tag-holmgren","15":"tag-isaiah","16":"tag-isaiah-hartenstein","17":"tag-listicle","18":"tag-modular","19":"tag-modular-story","20":"tag-national","21":"tag-national-sports","22":"tag-nba","23":"tag-nba-finals","24":"tag-news","25":"tag-oklahoma","26":"tag-oklahoma-city","27":"tag-oklahoma-city-thunder","28":"tag-oklahomacity","29":"tag-oklahomacitythunder","30":"tag-overall","31":"tag-overall-positive","32":"tag-positive","33":"tag-sports","34":"tag-sports-news","35":"tag-story","36":"tag-thunder","37":"tag-ttp","38":"tag-ttp-listicle"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/114907018949969717","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191211","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=191211"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191211\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/191212"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=191211"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=191211"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=191211"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}