SACRAMENTO – In the days leading up to NBA free agency, Isaiah Hartenstein had a family situation that forced him to relocate from Texas to Oregon. He had to visit his grandparents in Eugene. So any free agency pitches would either have to wait, take place virtually or take a detour to the Pacific Northwest.

The Oklahoma City Thunder’s decision-makers acted quickly. They had previously planned to quickly fly to Houston to pitch Hartenstein, their top target. The itinerary has been changed. Thunder general manager Sam Presti, head coach Mark Daigneault and their longtime medical editor Donnie Strack flew from Oklahoma City to Eugene.

“It’s not like I was in a nice little setting in Los Angeles (like most NBA free agent meetings),” Hartenstein said The athlete. “We were at some hotel in Eugene. I can’t remember the name.”

For Hartenstein, the gesture meant “a lot,” considering the family reasons that forced it, a sign of how the Thunder operated and how much they wanted him. For the team, the location meant little given the potential reward. They would have taken Hartenstein anywhere and put a lot of their available cap space on the table for a player who was dubbed a “dream big man for a marquee guy” late Monday night after the Thunder’s 130-109 win over Shai Gilgeous-Alexander the Sacramento Kings.

“I always kind of knew what the organization was like from afar,” Hartenstein said. “But then when they came out and presented everything to me, explained how they wanted me to play, explained the culture, it was just something really exciting for me.” It’s a young group of people who are really playing, first in the West, and I felt like I had something to bring that could really help.”

Hartenstein signed a hefty three-year, $87 million contract with some team-friendly aspects built in. The deal drops from $30 million to $28.5 million from season one to season two, and season three is a team option that creates financial flexibility just as Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren get theirs expected, large contract extensions will be tackled.

It was a steady climb for Hartenstein. He went No. 43 to the Houston Rockets in the 2017 NBA Draft and moved from the Denver Nuggets to the Cleveland Cavaliers to the LA Clippers in his first three seasons. He finally gained some career traction in the 2021-22 season as a rotation star on a 42-40 Clippers team. Analytics models loved him. The New York Knicks signed him to a two-year, $16 million contract.

Hartenstein started in New York as a sturdy center who could start or come off the bench, protect the rim at a high level, rebound like crazy, make more than 60 percent of his shots, burn down defenses with his floater and blast lanes with his physical Screening. He was an important part of a great Knicks team.

Gilgeous-Alexander, the Thunder’s publicly reserved but very observant Star Guardian, watched from a distance and took note.

“To be honest, I’ve been following the playoffs and I’m aware of the contract situations around the league,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “So I kind of knew (of his availability) while he was playing. And then when I saw the Knicks making all these moves in the summer without him being there, I kind of thought, ‘Hmm…'”

The Knicks made a blockbuster trade for Mikal Bridges in late June and maintained a fairly public plan to also bring back OG Anunoby at a high price. Given the new CBA frontcourt rules, this limited the amount of payments to Hartenstein and opened the door for Presti and the Thunder to break through the game.

“I’ll leave the front office matters to Sam,” Gilgeous-Alexander said when asked if he had made a call about it. “Trust him really well. Apparently he can read minds. So I didn’t have to say anything. … We knew it as a group and the world kind of knew there was a hole in us as a team last year. I think Isaiah fills that void very well. Sam did a good job. This makes us better.”

That finally became apparent last week. Hartenstein broke his hand in the preseason and missed the first 14 games. He came off the bench and played 29 minutes in a home win over the Portland Trail Blazers, recording 13 points, 14 rebounds, three assists and four blocks. On Monday night, he backed that up with 19 points, 10 rebounds and four assists, becoming the only healthy center in the Thunder’s starting lineup while Holmgren recovers from a broken hip.

“Offensive rebounding, defensive rebounding, size in general,” Gilgeous-Alexander said when asked what Hartenstein added. “We often found that we were doubling the positions just because we were too small. We don’t have to do so much anymore. You know, he’s very skilled and can pass. I’m sure you saw it today. He had one behind his back that fell down.”

Here’s the passport Gilgeous-Alexander mentioned.

Given Holmgren’s injury status, Hartenstein’s value seems exaggerated at the moment. The Thunder’s franchise center is currently on crutches and isn’t expected to receive a reevaluation for nearly two months. There’s a long absence ahead, and in the meantime, Hartenstein is considered the starting player in an otherwise small-ball environment for a Thunder team looking to secure first place in the conference.

But Hartenstein chose the Thunder – and they targeted him – with Holmgren as part of the equation, believing both big men could not only survive but thrive on the court together. In their best theoretical playoff version, both sit in pairs in the frontcourt for large portions of the game. That was part of their plan – to join a team that already has an elite franchise center, because that’s not the only position he’ll play.

“Just knowing that he (Holmgren) can also play in a four-man team (excited me),” said Hartenstein. “Knowing that this is not a situation where I am blocked. Or it’s like I don’t start at all. It was a situation where I knew he could play at four. I can play five. I felt like we could complement each other.”

They haven’t played together a second time in the regular season and won’t for the next few months. But Hartenstein and Holmgren spent a few preseason minutes together and the results were fascinating.

“Rim protection is one thing,” Hartenstein said. “I feel like we are two of the elite rim protectors in the league. We approach it a little differently. He will probably have more blocks. I’m more of a guy (whose influence shows up in the opponent’s field goal percentage around the rim).”

In a preseason game against the San Antonio Spurs, they met on some dribbling handoff actions.

“That was really fun,” Hartenstein said.

Here’s a clip. Daigneault called Hartenstein the best screener he has ever coached and praised his skill and subtle tactics. This includes a situation like the one below where he blocks off a lane so Holmgren can drive and dunk after the dribble handoff.

The Thunder had the third-worst rebound rate a season ago. It burned them in their second-round playoff loss to the Dallas Mavericks. They have the worst rebound rate this season and play a large portion of the game without a center. Hartenstein was added in part to correct this. He is one of the best rebounders in the league.

Two games is far too small a sample size for anything in the NBA, but the early results are positive. Hartenstein has played two games, grabbed 24 rebounds and in those two games the Thunder have a rebound rate of 53.8, fifth in the NBA in this mini-part of the schedule.

“I’m not coming here to change anything they do,” Hartenstein said. “I’m just here to improve whatever I can. I mean, I’m just the player I am. I try to make everyone’s life easier. I will rebound, help connect the team, support the bigger guys, defend and protect the rim. I just feel like there are a lot of different scenarios where I could help the team, but I’m not going to step in and change the way they play. I mean, they play the way I like to play anyway.”

That was part of the Thunder’s pitch in Eugene.

“I’m a very present, day-to-day guy,” Hartenstein said. “And that was the first thing they kind of mentioned: We don’t want to skip any steps. That’s something certain teams don’t do. They were honest and simply told me what they needed from me. And I felt like I could bring something to the team that was already at the top of the West that could really help them get over the hurdle.”

(Photo by Hartenstein: Thearon W. Henderson / Getty Images)