[Woj] Free agent C Isaiah Hartenstein has agreed on a three-year, $87 million deal with the Oklahoma City Thunder

[Phish Tank]

How is he in drop coverage

actually pretty great in the aggregate.

[Moose]

The Knicks wanted him back. The fans wanted him back.

The Thunder are stacked.

It's an overpay, but context matters.

The Thunder are on the doorstep of winning a title.

[Oscirus]

Man, it's two years, and none of OKC's important are up till 2026 worst-case scenario is he's a dud, and OKC has to come off one of their **** firsts. It's a low-risk move that affects nothing; you might as well take the risk. He has good mobility. When it comes to rebounding, he excels;

[Warriorfan]

Should have gotten Valaciunus for half the price

Why? How does he fit? Have you ever watched that team play?

Better yet spend it on a Drummond around 5 mil Better 7footers available next year.
Chet is the closing C anyway

https://hoopshype.com/lists/2025-nba-free-agent-rankings/

[Warriorfan]

Should have gotten Valaciunus for half the price

Why? How does he fit? Have you ever watched that team play?

No one has seen Hartenstein play on OKC system either.

A lower option being 2nd highest paid player has team ramifications

[Slimjimzv]

Should have gotten Valaciunus for half the price

Why? How does he fit? Have you ever watched that team play?

No one has seen Hartenstein play on OKC system either.

A lower option being 2nd highest paid player has team ramifications

You seem like the kind of person who could win the lottery and complain about the taxes.

[Lo Wang]

Total offensive rebounds in 2024:

Hartenstein - 244
Chet, Shai, JDub combined - 231

They were still the 1st seed in the NBA, and now, they have gotten 2x better.

How anyone can say they have not improve is beyond me, which is understandable since the Thunder barely had any national games.

[NoDopeOnSundays]

Should have gotten Valaciunus for half the price

Why? How does he fit? Have you ever watched that team play?

Better yet spend it on a Drummond around 5 mil Better 7footers available next year.
Chet is the closing C anyway

https://hoopshype.com/lists/2025-nba-free-agent-rankings/

He's much better than Drummond and Val, he can act as a passing hub from the top of the key and I suspect Chip is going to work with him on his shot.

Anyone who hasn't seen him play much is going to be shocked by the passes he can make.

Watch on YouTube

[Warriorfan]

Why? How does he fit? Have you ever watched that team play?

Better yet spend it on a Drummond around 5 mil Better 7footers available next year.
Chet is the closing C anyway

https://hoopshype.com/lists/2025-nba-free-agent-rankings/

He's much better than Drummond and Val, he can act as a passing hub from the top of the key and I suspect Chip is going to work with him on his shot.

Anyone who hasn't seen him play much is going to be shocked by the passes he can make.

Watch on YouTube

Is he 4x better than Drummand 2x better than Val. Is he the 2nd most important player on the team because he is paid that.

Mistake signings are those over MLE and longer than 2yrs paraphrasing Bob Meyers.

OKC has not been a market where they pay 4 starters over 20 million and a superstar 60+.

OKC has so many picks they can draft/trade up for whatever they need cost controlled.

He could be the type of player on a contract you have to give up assets in order to sign an all star free agent IMO

[thelead]

Total offensive rebounds in 2024:

Hartenstein - 244
Chet, Shai, JDub combined - 231

They were still the 1st seed in the NBA, and now, they have gotten 2x better.

How anyone can say they have not improve is beyond me, which is understandable since the Thunder barely had any national games.

The Knicks had plenty though.

I don’t know if it’s just people that look at box scores/raw stats or what.

You watch the games, and he just does all of the little things… and the advanced stats have loved the guy for years.

Who cares what he is getting paid over the next few years? Jalen and Chet will be on their rookie deals for most of Hartenstein’s contract.

[Warriorfan]

Why? How does he fit? Have you ever watched that team play?

No one has seen Hartenstein play on OKC system either.

A lower option being 2nd highest paid player has team ramifications

You seem like the kind of person who could win the lottery and complain about the taxes.

Your comment is the type made when you don't have a logical counter to add.

Plus who doesn't complain about taxes
Bringing it back to basketball

Plus contractual overpay leads to luxury tax which markets such as OKC have avoided in the past to the detriment of loss of takent

[Drakeem]

Better yet spend it on a Drummond around 5 mil Better 7footers available next year.
Chet is the closing C anyway

https://hoopshype.com/lists/2025-nba-free-agent-rankings/

He's much better than Drummond and Val, he can act as a passing hub from the top of the key and I suspect Chip is going to work with him on his shot.

Anyone who hasn't seen him play much is going to be shocked by the passes he can make.

Watch on YouTube

Is he 4x better than Drummand 2x better than Val. Is he the 2nd most important player on the team because he is paid that.

Mistake signings are those over MLE and longer than 2yrs paraphrasing Bob Meyers.

OKC has not been a market where they pay 4 starters over 20 million and a superstar 60+.

OKC has so many picks they can draft/trade up for whatever they need cost controlled.

He could be the type of player on a contract you have to give up assets in order to sign an all star free agent IMO

Yeah, I'd quite confidently say he's 4x better than Drummond and 2x better than Val in 2024-2025.

[Lo Wang]

Why? How does he fit? Have you ever watched that team play?

Better yet spend it on a Drummond around 5 mil Better 7footers available next year.
Chet is the closing C anyway

https://hoopshype.com/lists/2025-nba-free-agent-rankings/

He's much better than Drummond and Val, he can act as a passing hub from the top of the key and I suspect Chip is going to work with him on his shot.

Anyone who hasn't seen him play much is going to be shocked by the passes he can make.

Watch on YouTube

So basically he defends like Draymond and passes like Jokic? What a steal. Presti is a legit genius

[NoDopeOnSundays]

Better yet spend it on a Drummond around 5 mil Better 7footers available next year.
Chet is the closing C anyway

https://hoopshype.com/lists/2025-nba-free-agent-rankings/

He's much better than Drummond and Val, he can act as a passing hub from the top of the key and I suspect Chip is going to work with him on his shot.

Anyone who hasn't seen him play much is going to be shocked by the passes he can make.

Watch on YouTube

So basically he defends like Draymond and passes like Jokic? What a steal. Presti is a legit genius

We jokingly called him Jokic East when he made passes.


He's great though, and I'm going to guess he'll start shooting the three again with Chip Engelland working with him. The Thunder could have gotten Gafford but they obviously didn't want a strictly rim running center, because Isaiah is well rounded and even when he does rim roll he has a push shot / floater that he finishes from 6-10 feet away with. They will maintain their 5 out play with him.

[Warriorfan]

He's much better than Drummond and Val, he can act as a passing hub from the top of the key and I suspect Chip is going to work with him on his shot.

Anyone who hasn't seen him play much is going to be shocked by the passes he can make.

Watch on YouTube

Is he 4x better than Drummand 2x better than Val. Is he the 2nd most important player on the team because he is paid that.

Mistake signings are those over MLE and longer than 2yrs paraphrasing Bob Meyers.

OKC has not been a market where they pay 4 starters over 20 million and a superstar 60+.

OKC has so many picks they can draft/trade up for whatever they need cost controlled.

He could be the type of player on a contract you have to give up assets in order to sign an all star free agent IMO

Yeah, I'd quite confidently say he's 4x better than Drummond and 2x better than Val in 2024-2025.

Do stats line up with that opinion. How about the opportunity cost of better C next Free Agency.
Chet is the developing closing C who is already all star level.

https://www.nba.com/stats/players/defense?SeasonType=Regular+Season


As for match ups Drummand has dominated Towns and Held Jokic well below career avgs.


https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask/nikola-jokic-vs-andre-drummond-stats

[Drakeem]

Is he 4x better than Drummand 2x better than Val. Is he the 2nd most important player on the team because he is paid that.

Mistake signings are those over MLE and longer than 2yrs paraphrasing Bob Meyers.

OKC has not been a market where they pay 4 starters over 20 million and a superstar 60+.

OKC has so many picks they can draft/trade up for whatever they need cost controlled.

He could be the type of player on a contract you have to give up assets in order to sign an all star free agent IMO

Yeah, I'd quite confidently say he's 4x better than Drummond and 2x better than Val in 2024-2025.

Do stats line up with that opinion. How about the opportunity cost of better C next Free Agency.
Chet is the developing closing C who is already all star level.


https://www.nba.com/stats/players/defense?SeasonType=Regular+Season&PlayerPosition=C

I'm sure on the offensive side of things, Chet will have no problem playing the same spots on the floor as a "stretch 4" instead of a "stretch 5".

And yes, Drummond and Val are practically unplayable as starters today. There's a reason why they're being used as bench players at this point in their careers. iHart was useful enough for the Knicks that there was a very real debate on who makes the starting line up better between him and Robinson with Knick fans.

[Lo Wang]

He's much better than Drummond and Val, he can act as a passing hub from the top of the key and I suspect Chip is going to work with him on his shot.

Anyone who hasn't seen him play much is going to be shocked by the passes he can make.

Watch on YouTube

So basically he defends like Draymond and passes like Jokic? What a steal. Presti is a legit genius

We jokingly called him Jokic East when he made passes.


He's great though, and I'm going to guess he'll start shooting the three again with Chip Engelland working with him. The Thunder could have gotten Gafford but they obviously didn't want a strictly rim running center, because Isaiah is well rounded and even when he does rim roll he has a push shot / floater that he finishes from 6-10 feet away with. They will maintain their 5 out play with him.

Exactly.

He does everything. If you look at the Thunder roster, every guy is multi-faceted: they exemplify versatility, with each player capable of scoring inside, rebounding, passing, defending, and shooting from beyond the arc. When defenses focus on Shai, JDub can take over as the primary ball handler. When they target JDub, Cason or Wiggins can assume that role. If the wing is shut down, Chet and Hartenstein are more than capable of running the offense. This team's adaptability and multi faceted nature signify a significant evolution in the way basketball is being played.

This is the future folks. The Celtics and Thunder should be the blue print of how the game should be played today.

[tcheco]

I like this, because of the length, he will help immensively, and if needed will be traded for cap space in his last year. This has zero imapct in the thunder tax future. Thunder needed an extra body at C this year, and adding one that can defend, pass and rebound, this is the perfect fit.

[Warriorfan]

Putting some stats amongst all the opinion.


I like Presti and the thunder because they are the only team at the moment that van be a dynasty.
But overpay signings could prevent this

https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/h/harteis01.html

[Lo Wang]

Putting some stats amongst all the opinion.


I like Presti and the thunder because they are the only team at the moment that van be a dynasty.
But overpay signings could prevent this

https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/h/harteis01.html

I understand your perspective, but have you considered that he is young and poised to take a significant leap, much like James Harden did when he transitioned to the Rockets? Harden was initially a role player before his breakout year.

Presti's history of recognizing talent (such as KD, Westbrook, Steven Adams, Harden, SGA, JDub and Chet) demonstrates his seminal eye for potential talent.

It’s clear that he sees the same potential in Hartenstein. I have confidence in his judgment.