OKC Thunder: Chet Holmgren Dishes on Isaiah Hartenstein Addition, 'It Opens Up More'

The Oklahoma City Thunder have seen Chet Holmgren hop on Paul George's Podcast on Monday to talk all things basketball - including discuss the latest addition of Isaiah Hartenstein.

Mar 31, 2024; New York, New York, USA; New York Knicks center Isaiah Hartenstein (55) shoots the ball while being defended by Oklahoma City Thunder forward Chet Holmgren (7) and Oklahoma City Thunder guard Aaron Wiggins (21) during the second quarter at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: John Jones-USA TODAY Sports / John Jones-USA TODAY Sports

This season, the Oklahoma City Thunder are the heavy favorites to win the tightly contested Western Conference. After rattling off 57 wins a season ago, the OKC Thunder won their first playoff series since 2016 in impressive fashion - pulling off their second sweep in franchise history - the Thunder were bounced in six games by the Dallas Mavericks in the second round.

An excellent season led to top executive Sam Presti making a pair of win-now moves to dramatically improve their roster swapping Josh Giddey for Alex Caruso and inking New York Knicks Center Isaiah Hartenstein to the largest free agency contract in club history.

These moves give the Thunder newly-found frontcourt depth and a glove-like fit in place of Giddey allowing Oklahoma City to double down on their success from a year ago. On Monday, Chet Holmgren went on the Paul George Podcast to discuss all things basketball including the newly signed Hartenstein.

"I think the addition of Hartenstein is great. I think it opens up more possibilities to play different styles. Last year, we had a pretty defined style of play. That shit worked. Now we have more possibilities of playstyles. Sam [Presti] says it all the time, we're never married to one thing... I just think that move is a move in the direction of pushing for the ceiling of what we can be. Whether I'm out there at the 4 or the 5, I'm trying to win," Holmgren explained.

The Oklahoma City Thunder will see their season open on Oct. 24 against the Denver Nuggets on TNT. This will be an interesting road tilt against a massive threat inside in Nikola Jokic to get the first look at how Mark Daigneault will deploy this new look rotation that includes Holmgren and Hartenstein.

---

Want to join the discussion? Like Thunder on SI on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest Thunder news. You can also meet the team behind the coverage.