The first setback for the Oklahoma City Thunder has arrived before the opening day of the new NBA season. The team led by Mike Daigneault will not be able to count on its great addition of the summer, Isaiah Hartensteinfor the first days of competition.
As announced by the Oklahoma franchise, the center suffered in the preseason game against the Denver Nuggets a small fracture in the left hand and is expected to be on leave between five and six weeks. Therefore, Hartenstein will not be able to make his official debut with the Thunder until after the first month of the NBA season. It is therefore estimated that he will return to the slopes in December.
The 26-year-old interior arrived in Oklahoma City in this summer’s free agent market, in which he signed a multimillion-dollar contract worth 87 million dollars in 3 seasonsrejecting the Knicks’ proposal of nearly 73 million in 4 years to continue in the New York team.
With Hartenstein, the Thunder made a splash by signing one of the interiors who made the best impression during the 2023/24 season thanks to his great work as a game facilitator and as a defender, thus improving a squad that is already a candidate to lead the Western Conference this season, just like last year.
With the Knicks, he averaged 7.8 points, 8.3 rebounds y 2.5 assists last season in just over 25 minutes of play per game. With his presence, in addition to the arrival of an elite defender like Alex Caruso In the summer, the young Thunder squad is expected to go one step further when it comes to competing for the ring in the Wild West.
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