Isaiah Hartenstein looks like he's worth every penny of the $87 million the Thunder paid him
CBSN
Hartenstein has been sensational in his first four games with OKC
In his first 24 seconds of action this season, Isaiah Hartenstein grabbed a defensive rebound, ran a dribble handoff with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, created a potential hockey-like assist for an Alex Caruso 3-pointer initiated by a short-roll pass to the corner, and cut along the baseline for a what would've been a dunk had he not been stripped at the last second.
It was a fitting start to Hartenstein's Thunder career, which is now only four games deep. Since recovering from a fracture in his left hand, he has been at the center of OKC's attack on both ends, averaging 14.3 points, 14 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and nearly a pair of blocks per game in over 30 minutes a night.
As the Thunder have gotten off to an unsurprising 15-4 start, tops in the Western Conference after their 101-93 NBA Cup win over the Lakers on Friday night, it was easy to forget that Hartenstein hadn't even played until a week ago. His absence became more glaring when Chet Holmgren went down with his hip injury, which will keep him out until at least the second week of January.
