Isaiah Hartenstein’s 3-Point Shot Experiment Must Continue for OKC Thunder

Oklahoma City dominated in nearly every facet of the game a season ago. And when you win the NBA Championship, that’s almost expected. Sure, the Thunder were led by its defense — it was a historic unit with historic individual defenders. But the offense was nothing to scoff at either, it was an unbelievable unit.

It was, of course, led by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, but there wasn’t a lack of contributors across the roster. One of the biggest ones that really helped the offense flow and solved a missing piece to the puzzle was Thunder big man Isaiah Hartenstein.

Hartenstein fit right in as an offensive hub, proving to be a very valuable screener and passer in Oklahoma City’s offense. His infamous push shot made defenses adjust to Oklahoma City’s interior and he always kept opponents on their toes. He fit the mold of the Thunder’s offense and only made things better on that end of the floor.

One area that Hartenstein hoped to contribute in was long range shooting. He mentioned before last season that he had experience in taking triples but it was something he had gotten away from during his time with the Knicks. He tried to unlock that part of his game, and every open look felt like a great shot off the finger tips, but he was entirely unsuccessful.

Hartenstein experimented with his 3-point shot all season — and that’s exactly what Oklahoma City wanted to see. This team would take another huge step forward if he was a threat from the outside. Unfortunately, he couldn’t find any luck from the perimeter. He finished the season 0-for-19, but he attempted open looks and tried to get going. Thunder fans always enjoyed seeing him test his luck from the outside, and it’s certainly an experiment worth continuing.

Oklahoma City’s staff should absolutely encourage him to keep firing away, though. Yes, he was unsuccessful a season ago, but he has too much touch on his jump shot to not see this through. He has proven to be a decent shooter at times throughout his NBA career, and there’s no reason he can’t get back to that.

The Thunder are in a great position to experiment, too. It’s not like OKC will be fighting for its playoff lives — they can give up a few possessions here and there if it’ll help them down the road.

If Oklahoma City has two viable shooters in the front court between Chet Holmgren and Hartenstein, it could completely change the game. It wasn’t a great first year of the outside shooting experiment for Hartenstein, but the Thunder should continue encouraging him to let it fly.