Isaiah Hartenstein's All-Around Impact Transforming OKC Thunder

Rebounding. Passing. Scoring. Blocking. Hartenstein has done all that at a high level and more in his five games this season.

Nov 29, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder center Isaiah Hartenstein (55) dunks the ball in the first half against the Los Angeles Lakers at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Isaiah Hartenstein's last five months have involved lots of significant news. He joined the Oklahoma City Thunder — the sixth team of his career despite being 26 years old — last July, signing a three-year, $87 million deal with a team option. The big man suffered a non-displaced fracture in his left hand during preseason action, holding him out of Oklahoma City's first 15 games this season.

Above all else, Hartenstein has established himself as a significant player on both ends during a relatively small sample size. He is averaging 15.2 points on 62.3% true shooting, 13.8 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.6 blocks per game. Through five games, the Thunder are outscoring opponents by 14.1 points per 100 possessions with Hartenstein on the court, a 4.3-point increase from his bench minutes.

Game Tape: Isaiah Hartenstein

Perfect fit in OKC! pic.twitter.com/FUqGg40VTl

— shotcreator (@shotcreatordata) December 2, 2024

Oklahoma City lost its first game with Hartenstein against the Houston Rockets last night, but he still tallied his fifth consecutive double-double with 19 points, 13 rebounds, four assists, a steal and a block.

"He's been really good," Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said postgame. "He affects the game at a super high level. Super skilled. Does all the dirty work. He's been huge for us, obviously. And he's still getting his feet wet, figuring things out, so I'm excited to see his growth from here on out."

Hartenstein has averaged a league-leading 11.0 defensive rebounds per game this season. That individual production has translated to team impact — Oklahoma City has recorded a 73.0% defensive rebound percentage with Hartenstein on the floor, a sizable 5.6% increase from all minutes without him. They are also grabbing 28.7% of available offensive rebounds with Hartenstein, which is a 4.3% increase from his bench minutes. In other words, the Thunder go from a dreadful rebounding team on both ends without Hartenstein to a positive rebounding team with him on the court.

"He brings a certain layer to our team that is very impactful, and that we haven't had," Mark Daigneault said. "The point-of-attack defense, the pick-and-roll defense, the rim defense, the defensive rebounding — not only his rebounds, but his block-outs keep the other guys off the glass and allow guards to clean things up.

"And then offensively, he's dynamic as a 5-man. Great screen-setter, great pocket player, great finisher, great offensive rebounder. Checks a ton of boxes, he's a great player — but a player that can gain more chemistry with our team and improve some of his fundamentals. He's not a finished product and he's someone that's got runway to improve."

A sizable chunk of Hartenstein's offense has come from floaters in the middle of the lane. He has made 12 of his 19 (63.2%) shots classified as floating jumpers this season, which have all been assisted. The big man went 4-for-5 against Houston, including three makes longer than 10 feet. He has averaged a floater attempt every 8.3 minutes with the Thunder, compared to an attempt every 33.9 minutes last season.

While most of Hartenstein's career-high 3.8 assists per game come in the flow of the team's offense, such as short-roll playmaking after receiving a pass from the ball-handler, he has flashed sublime awareness on plays to the rim. Hartenstein's high-low dime to Cason Wallace for a backdoor layup and falling pass leading to a Williams dunk demonstrate his ability to find cutters for quality looks.

"When he gets in the pocket ... I don't even know if he missed a floater today," Jalen Williams said. "When somebody's screening for you that hard every play and not saying anything, you're trying to give him a slice of the pie too. He makes good reads out of it, too — he doesn't always have to shoot it, he's a good passer."

Hartenstein thrives as a screener, creating consistent offense through dribble handoffs while taking defenders out of plays. He creates better outside looks by bouncing the ball to where teammates are headed — sometimes even between his legs — rather than simply handing it off.

"A smart screener that's willing to screen makes it pretty easy," Williams said. "He does a good job communicating when we're in timeouts and the game on what he's seeing. We both trust each other, so I trust what he sees and he trusts me to make the play."

Hartenstein's 158 minutes have contained positive results, with even more improvement probable due to 62 games remaining this season. The big man has logged a career-low turnover percentage (15.3%), but the Thunder are committing almost four more turnovers per 100 possessions with him on the floor. More pick-and-roll reps with Gilgeous-Alexander, Williams and whoever else Oklahoma City pairs him with will only help the offense moving forward.

"There's a lot of room to grow, too," Williams said. "You look at him in New York with Jalen Brunson ... A lot of the screening action that they had, he was able to free up and get him easy looks. We're trying to emulate that ourselves in our own unique way, and he's done a really good job of figuring that out."

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