Isaiah Hartenstein Discusses OKC Thunder Double-Big Lineup

The Oklahoma City Thunder have finally been able to deploy a double big lineup with Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein both healthy. The OKC Thunder have seen three clunky games of this pairing which Hartenstein touched on during Friday's shoot around.

Feb 7, 2025; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder center Isaiah Hartenstein (55) high fives forward Chet Holmgren (7) during introductions before the start of a game against the Toronto Raptors during the second half at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images | Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

Since July, the Oklahoma City Thunder have envisioned a unique pairing of Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein. The OKC Thunder in the blink of an eye went from the smallest team in the NBA to being able to deploy a jumbo lineup of two seven-footers in its front court coupled with plus-positional size at the other three spots.

This pairing had to wait until Feb. 7 to come to fruition as Hartenstein missed the first 15 games of the season due to a hand injury and once he returned, Holmgren was in street clothes due to a hip fracture.

Now, the Thunder are coming out of the NBA All-Star Break with just a three-game sample size on this duo. Ahead of Friday's tilt against the Utah Jazz, marking the fourth game the seven-footers will share the hardwood together, Hartenstein spoke about his partnership with Holmgren.

"It's getting there. We've had a lot good stuff going on but I feel like we still gotta build some chemistry in that, but it is going to be good," Hartenstein said.

Chemistry will take time, and while the pairing has made the Oklahoma City Thunder's offense clunky, there is context needed.

Holmgren is coming back from a fracture hip, an injury never seen before in the NBA. His offense has yet to come around but that doesn't mean it won't. The Gonzaga product showed jaw-dropping scoring potential prior to this injury but needs more than three games to get back to that level. Once he does, or if he does this season, it will elevate the double-big lineup.

Based on the nature of the Thunder's drive-and-cut offense, Oklahoma City will likely be at its best with just one seven-footer on the floor but there will be matchups that require a double-big look. That is why the two finding a groove in the course of the final 28 tilts is important.

Isaiah Hartenstein paused during his scrum this AM because Jalen Williams (and someone else, I can’t tell) were giving him a hard time.

“We’ll wait.”

“We paused Drake for you, so.”

Hart on Chet connection: “It’s getting there. We’ve had a lot of good stuff going on but I feel… pic.twitter.com/pTItEr2Lxo
— Joel Lorenzi (@jxlorenzi) February 21, 2025

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