OKC Thunder's Recent Rebounding Ineptitude Sparking Pre-NBA Title Flashbacks

Oklahoma City had to largely evolve in one area last season to arise to an NBA championship. In the last couple weeks, it looks like this team has since devolved in that area.

Oct 23, 2025; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder center Isaiah Hartenstein (55) rebounds the ball while Indiana Pacers forward Pascal Siakam (43) defends in the first half at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images | Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images

Grabbing isaiah Hartenstein in free agency in the offseason following the 2023-24 regular season campaign was, of course, a very intentional and targeted move by Oklahoma City general manager Sam Presti.

That was easy to tell, but it wasn't exactly set in stone to how that would wind up panning out. Hartenstein along Chet Holmgren in a small-ball, run-and-gun sort of offense didn't have any guarantees—but you would have been hard-pressed to argue that it wouldn't improve the Thunder in the rebounding category immediately.

And that is exactly what Oklahoma City was in need of. A rebounder who is agile, large and a hustler on both ends.

Before the team's offseason acquisition of Hartenstein, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and co. got booted out of the playoffs to a Dallas Mavericks team that bodied the Thunder along the interior going both ways. Daniel Gafford and a rookie Dereck Lively II were not playing any games with Oklahoma City, as they'd send the Thunder home in six contests.

Holmgren was just about by himself in that series in terms of big men. He couldn't match up, and the Thunder's perimeter guys could not be more physical than Dallas' interior presence.

That next year, Hartenstein's rebounding value would help Oklahoma City re-position itself from one of the worst rebounding teams in the NBA to a top-half rebounding team in just that one-year span. It couldn't all be attributed to Hartenstein of course, but his addition simplified the Thunder's cause in facet of the game.

Now in the middle of the 2025-26 campaign leading the league by record, the team is back to the lower half of the league in rebounds per game—and coincidentally, he's missed about 13 of the Thunder's 37 contests this year.

In the last two, which Oklahoma City dropped both of against the Charlotte Hornets and Phoenix Suns to make the team 6-6 in its last 12 games, Hartenstein was unavailable due to a calf injury. Oklahoma City struggled in these two losses on the boards without his help, grabbing just 33 boards to Charlotte's 52 and then 29 boards to Phoenix's 49.

Those types of numbers don't allow many teams to win, rarely ever. And this is how the Thunder had to grind wins out back before the team was title ready.

Now as defending champs with targets on their back, the Thunder can't afford to get complacent. We'll see if Hartenstein's return can help steer this team on the right track with his interior presence again once he returns from injury.

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