How Will Isaiah Hartenstein's Return Impact OKC Thunder Backup Bigs?

Oklahoma City will get one of its most important players back on Sunday, and that will have a strong impact on the rotation.

On Saturday, the Thunder released their injury report for Sunday’s game in Portland. While the team is still far from full health, Isaiah Hartenstein was not listed, signaling his return. On the sideline with a soleus strain over the past few games, Hartenstein missed a string of games for the second time this season, albeit only five contests this time around.

Although he was out for less than two weeks, any stretch of time without its starting centers can feel like an eternity for Oklahoma City. The first time Oklahoma City was without Hartenstein and Chet Holmgren, it also had no available centers beyond those two. This time, the team had the services of Jaylin Williams and Branden Carlson.

Coming into the stretch of games without Hartenstein and Holmgren, Carlson had played exclusively garbage time, and it seemed far-fetched that he would make any impact in their absence. Instead, Mark Daigneault inserted Carlson in the first quarter against the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Thunder’s first game without Hartenstein.

He proved to be a solid player and capable of sopping up minutes for an injury-riddled team. Carlson played at least 10 minutes in three of the Thunder’s five games, averaging 6.2 points and 2.6 rebounds in 11.5 minutes across the stretch.

While Carlson was thrown into the fire for small stints, Williams carried the load in Hartenstein’s absence. Williams averaged 8.8 points and 6.2 rebounds in 23.5 minutes a night and started all five contests.

This season, Hartenstein has averaged 29.8 minutes and started all but one game. If Hartenstein stays around that mark, that leaves roughly 18 minutes for Williams and Carlson to share with any small-ball lineups Daigneault puts on the floor.

While Williams and Hartenstein likely won’t play together, Carlson’s emergence in recent games could make him a candidate to share the floor with Hartenstein, given his skill set and frame. But if he doesn’t get to play alongside Hartenstein, the 10-day signee might be out of the rotation entirely again.

Meanwhile, Williams only hit the 20-minute mark twice and averaged 13.3 minutes before Hartenstein’s injury and likely returns to that role. In any case, the Thunder’s options when Hartenstein is on the bench have more experience and should have more confidence after their play over the past five games.

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