It’s too simplistic to say that the Oklahoma City Thunder signed Isaiah Hartenstein because of the Dallas Mavericks. They had plenty of reasons to offer the free agent center a three-year, $87 million deal. At just 26, Hartenstein is in the middle of his prime. He fits neatly into the Thunder’s cap sheet, without forcing them to dip into their hoard of draft picks to add talent. And he’s shown continual improvement since entering the G League as a second-round pick in 2017, developing from a little-used backup to a heavy-minutes starter holding his own against Joel Embiid in a playoff series.
But even if they weren’t the primary reason, the Mavericks were certainly a reason that the Thunder targeted Hartenstein over the summer. They made OKC look small in their second-round triumph last spring, grabbing 12 offensive rebounds per game and generating critical second-chance opportunities. There are few experiences more discouraging on a basketball court than getting a stop, only to watch helplessly as the other team plays volleyball on the boards and steals an easy score.
So the Thunder set their sights on the 7-foot Hartenstein, fresh off an inspiring playoff run with the Knicks, and agreed to terms on the first day of free agency. Among players who joined new teams over the offseason, only Paul George signed for more money than Hartenstein—representing quite the rise for a player who’d been on five teams in his first five seasons and signed a mere two-year, $16 million contract the first time he reached free agency.
A broken hand forced Hartenstein to miss the Thunder’s first meeting against the Mavs this season, and Dallas doubled down on its victorious approach, gobbling 18 offensive boards in a win featuring 6-foot-6 Jalen Williams as OKC’s starting center.
But the Thunder would seek their revenge. In an NBA Cup quarterfinal clash on Tuesday, Oklahoma City finally got the chance to see whether its projected antidote would solve its greatest problem. And in a 118-104 victory that snapped the Mavericks’ seven-game win streak and sent the Thunder to Las Vegas for the Cup semifinals, Hartenstein looked every bit the missing piece that the Western Conference favorites needed.
First things first: Hartenstein does his job protecting the boards. On Tuesday, the Mavericks collected only seven offensive rebounds. Meanwhile, on the other end, Hartenstein had five offensive rebounds by himself, as part of a 10-point, 13-rebound effort.
The Thunder still rank just 28th in defensive rebounding rate this season, per Cleaning the Glass—just one spot up from last year. But that’s a misleading figure because the Thunder have spent so much of the season playing without a true big man because of injuries to Hartenstein and Chet Holmgren, who have combined to play just 46 percent of OKC’s minutes.
When Hartenstein is on the court, OKC is now an above-average defensive rebounding team, ranking in the 67th percentile, per CtG. Individually, Hartenstein has double-digit rebounds in eight of nine games this season; the only exception came in a blowout win over the Jazz, when he sat out the entire fourth quarter. It’s still early, but in a small sample, Hartenstein has reached a new level as a rebounder.
The difference against Dallas on Tuesday, versus last postseason, was so apparent that Hartenstein was the first player Charles Barkley praised on Inside the NBA, both at halftime and after the game—even though Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 39 points, which was more than Luka Doncic (16) and Kyrie Irving (17) managed together.
Hartenstein deserved the plaudits; OKC has been downright dominant since his debut three weeks ago. In part, that’s because he adds offensive elements that the Thunder didn’t previously possess. OKC ranked 27th in offensive rebounding rate last season, per CtG, but ranks in the 71st percentile with Hartenstein on the floor this season.
Hartenstein is also a gifted passer who is able to create good looks for teammates: He sets solid screens, embraces handoff opportunities, and facilitates from the free throw line. He’s one of six players this season averaging at least 10 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists per 36 minutes, and the other five rank among the best centers in the league:
Players Averaging 10 Points, 10 Rebounds, and Five Assists per 36 Minutes
In other words, Hartenstein would be a valuable addition even if he weren’t an elite defender—but that’s his biggest strength! Leading advanced stats EPM and DARKO rank Hartenstein among the five best defenders in the game, and his teams have been stingier defensively with him on the court in every season of his career, per CtG.
Hartenstein is an elite rim protector, and he’s exceptionally mobile for a 7-footer. Multiple times in Tuesday’s game, the Thunder blitzed a Doncic pick-and-roll, and Hartenstein was able to scoot all the way out near midcourt to trap the Dallas superstar, then recover back to the rim in time to alter another opponent’s shot.
To be fair, the Thunder would have a tremendous defense even if Hartenstein weren’t around. Their collective nose for the ball is extraordinary, and they’re forcing an outrageous volume of turnovers every night. OKC’s 12.2 steals per game are the third most for any team in NBA history, and the most since the 1993-94 SuperSonics.
Yet Hartenstein is so vital because he simultaneously reinforces the Thunder’s greatest strength and addresses their most glaring weakness—both now and projecting forward to the postseason. Houston leads the league in offensive rebounding rate, per CtG, and Memphis ranks fifth, with Golden State, Denver, and Dallas not far behind. The Thunder will most likely have to survive a couple of playoff matchups against teams that crash the boards if they want to reach the Finals.
With Hartenstein, then, the Thunder are well-equipped to maintain their stout defensive identity regardless of their opponent, without any cracks in the foundation. They’re also, more than a quarter of the way through the season, still on pace to set the 21st-century record for best defensive rating relative to the league as a whole.
Reaching this enviable position required general manager Sam Presti to leave his comfort zone. He’s previously acquired all of his best players via the draft or trades. Over the summer, The Oklahoman ranked the five biggest free agent signings in Thunder history: Patrick Patterson, post-peak Caron Butler (via buyout), post-peak Derek Fisher (via buyout), Mike Muscala, and Nerlens Noel. That’s such a grim list that Hartenstein has already catapulted himself to the top, just nine games into his Thunder tenure.
Looking ahead, Hartenstein will continue to start as the Thunder’s main center for a while, as Holmgren will miss at least another month due to his pelvic fracture and the first-place Thunder won’t be in any rush to get him back on the floor. But once Holmgren returns, coach Mark Daigneault will have to figure out the best ways to use his two talented bigs.
Daigneault loves to experiment with lineups and juggle his rotation, so he could very well deploy Hartenstein in different configurations depending on the matchup. Holmgren and Hartenstein could play together in a double-big formation, or Hartenstein could stabilize bench units and exploit opposing reserves; he was effective when pivoting between starter and reserve with the Knicks last season. At the very least, Daigneault will be assured of anchoring his defense with a dominant interior big, health pending, for all 48 minutes.
And that consistency matters because while the Thunder are very good in all scenarios, they’re truly great when they play a true center. The Harlem Globetrotters would be thrilled to beat the Washington Generals as thoroughly as the Thunder have routed their opponents with Holmgren and Hartenstein this season:
Thunder Centers
The result is a team favored to make it past its budding rival in Dallas, and past every other team in the West, to reach the Finals. Oklahoma City learned from its playoff problems last spring and found the perfect fix in free agency.
