Is Oklahoma City's 2024 Free Agency Finished?

After landing Isaiah Hartenstein and trading for Alex Caruso, all the fixes the Oklahoma City Thunder seem to be addressed with a now complete roster.

Apr 22, 2024; New York, New York, USA; New York Knicks center Isaiah Hartenstein (55) looks to pass during the first half during game two of the first round for the 2024 NBA playoffs against the Philadelphia 76ers at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports / Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

The Oklahoma City Thunder's offseason has already been an eventful one.

Coming off a disappointing end in the second round against the Dallas Mavericks, the Thunder knew it was capable of making a push at the NBA Finals, but it needed to round out the roster and address some issues that contributed to the loss. Even if it's only made two significant moves for next year's team, those two moves will make a signiciant impact.

It started with moving on from Josh Giddey, sending him away to the Chicago Bulls for veteran Alex Caruso. It was a move Oklahoma City needed to make, replacing a player that struggled to continue to fit in the start lineup and bring efficient offense with an All-Defensive second team guard that shot a 40% clip from behind the arc last season.

Then the Thunder made its biggest free agency signing in franchise history by swinging Isaiah Hartenstein from the New York Knicks, the ideal answer in addressing the rebounding problem that deeply hurt it in the playoffs. While likely coming off the bench to backup Chet Holmgren, he and the incoming sophomore will also be able to share the floor in certain lineups.

Both Caruso and Hartenstein will be exactly as advertised. Perfect role players.

Oklahoma City didn't necessarily need to go all in on a star player this offseason. It has an incredible core trio of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Holmgren to build around for the next decade, so it wasn't going to be likely for it to immediately push forward a significant amount of assets for one addition. Caruso and Hartenstein aren't going to drastically alter the rotation, but they'll both fit in seamlessly and patch the few holes it had last season.

So if the Thunder has already addressed the concerns it had, does it need to make any more moves during the free agency period?

Probably not. Hartenstein received roughly $29 million for next season, which takes a significant portion of Oklahoma City's cap space. It proved it could be big spenders and make the tough decisions in trade conversations, so any other moves are just icing on the cake.

Besides, the Thunder rotation is already filled to the brim with players deserving of minutes. The argument could be made that it has 13 players that would get playing time on most other teams, but it's simply too large even as is to make that happen. While a star would of course be a much different case, adding another role player wouldn't be neccessary.

Oklahoma City may call it a offseason here, and that would be completely fine. It accomplished what it set out to do and did it in a way that didn't cost future assets, which would've seemed impossible before. Caruso nor Hartenstein are big-time names, but they'll bring exactly what the organization needs next season.

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