OKC Thunder Desperate For Front Court Depth to Return

The Oklahoma City Thunder are sitting atop the NBA with a 32-7 record. That is in spite of plenty of injuries. The Thunder have missed chunks of games from Isaiah Hartenstein, Jalen Williams, Alex Caruso, Isaiah Joe, Jaylin Williams, Aaron Wiggins, Kenrich Williams and Lu Dort.

This is the second seven-plus game stint that Hartenstein has missed as the Thunder starting center has missed 15 games on the year. That is a massive chunk of not only the season but a huge loss for the Bricktown Ballers.

“[Isaiah] Hartenstein is a great screener first of all, one of the best screen setters in the NBA. He frees guys up, he's an artist as a screener and he's played with a lot of different point-of-attack players, from Chris Paul to [James] Harden, to our guys here to [Jalen] Brunson over the years. He understands how to get guys open based on their skill set and how they get guarded. He's an elite offensive rebounder, obviously, which just generates more possessions for your team. Then he's a great passer from that spot which is helpful. You can use him as an initiator in that way, or if you have a player that's getting double-teamed like we do, he's an outlet for that, and can make plays from those spots, so, it's incredibly valuable. We want everybody available. We're better when we're whole, but you just kind of allocate your usage according to who you have available in a given night in terms of how to create advantages and stuff like that. We did have Chet [Holmgren] at the five for a year prior to [Isaiah] Hartenstein getting her, so we have a pretty good understanding of the way to pivot cross and similar to Chet in terms of how we use them. Our system has an understanding of how to bend to that sort of lineup. We still need it when [Hartenstein]’s available, but it certainly becomes more of that when [Hartenstein]’s out,” Mark Daigneault explained pregame vs. Memphis.

While the Thunder have been forced to navigate this stretch without him as Hartenstein has missed eight straight games, it has been difficult on Oklahoma City. The seven-footer is a bruiser in the middle who has cleaned the glass for OKC, sets wipe out screens to free their drive-heavy guards and his high post playmaking offers some relief to a laboring half court offense.

As Hartenstein has been in street clothes, they have missed Hartenstein in each of those areas perhaps none bigger than his ability to gobble up rebounds. The Thunder need the big man back in a desperate way, but the most important time on the calendar for Oklahoma City remains the postseason, getting him healthy and fresh for that stint will be the biggest priority for the Bricktown Ballers.

Up next, the Oklahoma City Thunder will return home for a mini two-game home stand against the Miami Heat on Sunday and San Antonio Spurs on Thursday to tip-off a massive week that sees the Bricktown Ballers taking on four above .500 squads.