Dr. Modabber lends perspective to the Thunder big man’s hand injury.
Article Links: What does Isaiah Hartenstein’s injury mean for OKC Thunder? (oklahoman.com)
The Oklahoman
Isaiah Hartenstein, Oklahoma City’s prized free agent center, sustained a small, non-displaced fracture in his left hand in Denver on Tuesday. He’s expected to be reevaluated in five to six weeks, the team announced Thursday.
Injuries are never timely, but Hartenstein’s injury comes at an especially interesting time considering coach Mark Daigneault’s operation. Dating back to last season’s journey to 57 wins, the Thunder seemingly has taken less interest in the seeding aspect of the regular season than the development piece. Experimentation with lineups, in-game scenarios, rotational patterns.
Though the experimentation never quite dies, Daigneault, who doubles as a mad scientist, could most eagerly bust out his beakers and test tubes through the first quarter of the season. Hartenstein, a 7-footer unlike anything this core has played alongside, will require the testing.
“He was getting more and more comfortable, obviously,” Daigneault said, “and we were getting more and more comfortable with him. Anytime you add a player to the court, doesn’t change the system, but their individual style of play, the system bends to the people that are on the court. And he’s obviously a unique player that was different from what we’ve had.
“So we were able to get some touch points there, which was helpful for the team, for when he comes back, and also helpful for him, because he can contextualize things differently as he watches over the next five or six weeks.”
The Thunder had just started getting used to Hartenstein. His between-the-leg handoffs, his brutal screens, his knack for the glass, his push shot.
The adjustment period has often been a thrilling watch and a clear fit, though an adjustment period nevertheless. Especially for Hartenstein’s teammates.
Upon asking several players this preseason what playing alongside Hartenstein has been like, they’ve underscored that it’s early in the relationship. Now they’ll go at least another month without playing through those in-game nuances.
“It’s gonna take time,” third-year wing Aaron Wiggins said after the Thunder’s overtime loss to the Rockets last week. “I don’t think we’re anywhere close to how fluid we could probably be. In terms of the adjustment, or going into it, it’s an exciting thing to get comfortable with.
“Just trying to continue to understand that it’s going to be a process to figure out each other’s style of play and spacing at times. But it looks good, looks promising.”
Chet Holmgren is at the center of this news. The time he’s spent on the floor with Hartenstein in a double-big lineup has been, and will continue to be, one of the more intriguing data points of the season. And so far, despite maybe not being OKC’s most optimal lineup in the preseason, the duo has already produced magic.
Hartenstein’s frame and court awareness has allowed Holmgren to gallop around like a power forward. On offense, Holmgren has run off screens into handoffs. On defense, he’s roamed free of the rim and his typical responsibilities.
If the Thunder was hoping to shake Holmgren of his pride and keep him from playing all 82 games again, Hartenstein’s injury makes that tougher. Jaylin Williams and Kenrich Williams, two of OKC’s otherwise more viable options at backup center, have been sidelined during the preseason with injuries, set to be reevaluated upon its conclusion.
Aside from them, third-year forward Ousmane Dieng has served as a center in some lineups during the preseason, and both Dillon Jones and Wiggins have defended centers in intensely small lineups.
Part of snagging Hartenstein in free agency was to take a step back from any dependence on the Williamses. Jaylin played notable minutes down the stretch of OKC’s loss to the Mavericks in May’s Western Conference semifinals. Kenrich, who played encouraging minutes as a small-ball five a couple seasons ago, saw his minutes dwindle as last season progressed.
“We need to figure out the best way to leverage the situation that we’re in and the circumstances we’re in to grow the team, and that’s what we’ve always done,” Daigneault said prior to Thursday night’s game against the Hawks. “We’re a team that looks for the opportunities in the good times and in adversity, and this is no different.
Hartenstein’s injury is not an uncommon one among basketball players, according to Dr. M. Ramin Modabber, a hand specialist and board-certified orthopedic surgeon at Cedars-Sinai Kerlan-Jobe Institute in Los Angeles. 
The injury being non-displaced means that the bone is broken but it didn’t shift, and that it should heal on its own without surgery, the doctor said, without knowing specifics in this case.
The team Hartenstein will be away from is a core mostly consistent with the one that topped the Western Conference a year ago. Among the biggest differences? The Thunder swapped Josh Giddey for one of the league’s best perimeter defenders in Alex Caruso.
OKC’s depth, with an injury-riddled frontcourt, will undoubtedly be measured at the season’s start. But if Wiggins speaks on behalf of the Thunder, there isn’t much panic going around.
“We got a great group of guys with Hartenstein and without,” Wiggins said at Thursday’s shootaround. “Obviously the anticipation of playing with him and Alex Caruso and guys like that was high, but good things come to those who wait.
“We’ll get better and kind of find things with his absence, but when he returns we’ll be just as fluid and probably ready to go at that point.”
