Isaiah Hartenstein in the win: 18/12/3 on 5⁄7 FG
https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401869373
18 points
12 rebounds
3 assists
5⁄7 FG, 8⁄9 FT
The Thunder have two of the most elite ceiling raisers in Caruso and Hartenstein.
Goated offseason by Presti in 2024
Everyone wanted us to trade for a big at the deadline in 2024 when the team was still growing and immature and I think it would have helped in the short term but I don’t think we’d be nearly as good as we are now if Presti had done that. We could not ask for a better fit from a big than what we have with Hartenstein
It was popular to say we should have taken Lively or Gafford the year we lost to the Mavs. But Presti knew what he was doing by waiting on these two
And it all happened in a single off season
Shoutout to the Knicks!
It wasn’t their fault. Knicks only had his early-Bird rights.
The team you should be thanking, as usual, is the Clippers. They had a chance to keep him before he went to the Knicks but opted to give the TPMLE to washed-ass John Wall instead of offering it to Hartenstein which he said he would have accepted.
It was and it wasn’t they couldn’t do anything about it when the contract ended but they could have offered him a longer deal in the first place when they got him which would have avoided that
lol and everyone who used their bitcoin to buy pizza/drugs 15 years ago should have known better too huh
No one was offering him more than two years at the time though. But if the Clippers had just given him the TPMLE like he wanted, the Clippers would’ve had his Bird rights when he hit free agency in 2024 and would’ve been able to outbid OKC.
Bum ass Knicks also thought highly of Mitch Robinson and hope he would step up if they let Hartenstein walk. All they got from Mitch were injuries
Doesn’t feel like the Thunder properly utilize him offensively. He’s capable of more, they really only went to him because the Suns had no size whatsoever.
If they find a way to unlock this guy, they’ll be that much scarier.
He has a wide offensive skillset.
100%….agree
I feel like they use him perfectly. Sometimes the more you ask of guys, the less effective their production can be.
This series, all they needed was for him to be big and grab boards because the Suns were so undersized. But when he’s at his best, iHart is being used as a hub on offense for DHOs with shooters and passing to cutters. He did very little of that in this series.
Mark kind of hates non defensive minded kind of guys so the shooters aren’t getting much minutes but hope he adds at least 1 of them with Ajay and iHart for lots of spacing and Hart’s DHOs
Oh yeah, for sure. He’s always been great at that stuff.
I wonder if he’ll ever go back to shooting 3s. He was starting to when he was on the Clips and Knicks but then just stopped. Then went 0-19 last year lol
They used iHart as a hub pretty regularly all season, which is when he’s at his best. He didn’t do it this series because they didn’t need it. I bet we’ll see more of that in Round 2.
Nah they give him the ball when he’s backing down in the paint for a mismatch and he gets nice floaters every now and then. He dosent need to be anywhere outside of the paint given the teams rebounding needs
Push shot is back on the menu boys
7 offensive rebounds
He is honestly an absolute machine, behind only Adam’s as a rebounder and possibly Mitch Robinson.
Its crazy what he does for our rebounding rate.
He has also meaningfully improv3d defensively where he is a very solid rim protector and quite mobile and the perimeter.
Im hoping we decide his TO and extend him he’s that valuable to winning.
1 handed offensive boards.
Need a way to keep this man at all costs
He was the perfect addition after that Mavs series. I think you keep him, even if it costs some depth.
We need to. He is our 4th best player and is a really good fit to have next to chet, either as a backup or for the double big lineup.
His floater,passing and screen setting are just elite and amazing tools for any team
OKC please melt before Finals and let him go to FA please please please please
Whichever team gets him this offseason will get a good starting center
No chance OKC doesn’t move their cap and assets around to keep IHart.
I assume that means Dort is the one to be moved then
Most likely, but I also believe that OKC might run it back with the same roster and risk the 2nd apron.
He’s a keeper, dort will be gone before ihart
He is going absolutely nowhere
He’s not going anywhere
He’s still on contract and he loves OKC and is a huge contributor to the community
He loved us too man…
He didnt have a signed contract with the knicks tho
So y’all better keep him happy… I miss them floaties… The OREBS… The surprising footwork… The defense…. The DHOs…
Dude isn’t an all star but he is such a baller
S tier role player. He is just so good. Has all the supporting skills a team needs
He ain’t going anywhere bro
He’s way too important to our offense Dort is gone.
lol you just triggered an avalanche of Thunder fans
On an OKC thread on r/nba? How unusual