Thunder, Isaiah Hartenstein Agree To Three-Year Deal

According to Charania, the deal will feature a 15% trade kicker and will include a “mutual” option on the third year to allow the two sides to potentially rework the agreement during the 2028 offseason.

Hartenstein, 28, initially joined the Thunder as a free agent in 2024, signing a three-year, $87MM contract that included a third-year team option. Over the past two seasons, he has been a critical part of the team’s frontcourt, starting 99 of his 104 regular season games and 35 of 38 playoff contests.

A versatile defensive-minded forward/center who played for five teams before landing in Oklahoma City, Hartenstein has averaged 10.3 points, 10.1 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 0.9 steals, and 0.9 blocks in 26.2 minutes per game over the past two seasons, frequently playing alongside Chet Holmgren to give the Thunder a double-big look up front.

With Oklahoma City facing a cap crunch this summer, it wasn’t entirely clear what the plan would be for Hartenstein, but bringing him back was always considered a priority for the team, given his importance to the rotation. Based on the reported terms of his new deal, it sounds like the Thunder will be able to lower his cap hit for 2026/27 by at least a few million dollars, putting them in a better position to remain below the second tax apron.

Operating below that second apron seems like it’ll be a goal for the Thunder, who have already reached trade agreements to send out Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins without taking back any salary in return. The club also still has option decisions to make on Luguentz Dort ($17.7MM) and Kenrich Williams ($7.2MM).

Charania’s reference to a “mutual” option could mean that the third year of the deal will be a player option that’s not fully guaranteed. However, in order to include a partially guaranteed or non-guaranteed player option, the second year of the contract would have to be partially or non-guaranteed for the same percentage as the third year.

That would contradict Charania’s assertion that the contract will lock in $134MM in total “guaranteed” money for Hartenstein since his arrival in OKC, so we’ll have to wait on more details for clarity on exactly what the deal looks like.