Chet Holmgren unfortunately missed his entire rookie season after suffering a Lisfranc injury to his right foot. However, he made up for it last season by playing in all 82 games for the Thunder. Holmgren dramatically improved their offense with his floor spacing and defense with his shot-blocking ability. He had one of the better rookie seasons we have seen. However, even though he had a great rookie season, he struggled in some notable areas.
One of those areas was covering bigger centers down low and trying to box them out. This became even more of a problem in both playoff series against the Pelicans and Mavericks. This prompted Sam Presti to make a big move, adding Isaiah Hartenstein. Let’s dive into how, the addition of Isaiah Hartenstein, and his presence on the Thunder could benefit Chet Holmgren’s development.
How Isaiah Hartenstein Could Affect and Help Chet Holmgren
Isaiah Hartenstein Will Take Pressure Off of Chet Holmgren
Even though Hartenstein is not expected to start, there will be minutes when they share the court. In those minutes and stretches on the court together, Isaiah Hartenstein will take pressure off Chet Holmgren. Last season, Chet was the only real center the Thunder had playing in their rotation. With Hartenstein, the Thunder will be able to rest Chet more often than they were able to last year. In addition, Chet won’t have to cover the bigger centers anymore. Guys like Anthony Davis, Nikola Jokic, and others he struggled against, Hartenstein will be the one to cover them now. This way, he can be more of a roaming defender who is in a better position to affect or block shots more frequently. To go along with that, Hartenstein being able to box out the centers will make rebounding easier for Chet as well.
On the offensive side, Hartenstein will allow Chet to be more of a perimeter threat. The Thunder will have more of an opportunity to utilize Chet’s outside shooting, with Hartenstein taking up the paint. Chet will be able to play more freely and utilize his strengths more when playing alongside Hartenstein. Finally, with the Thunder having two seven-footers on the court at the same time they will, more often than not, be able to force mismatches. This will allow Chet and Hartenstein to be covered by smaller defenders or make the opposing team go bigger.
Chet Holmgren Could Struggle Playing With Hartenstein
Even with Isaiah Hartenstein being able to take pressure off of Chet Holmgren. When they play together on the court, it could create some problems for Chet. Most of them will come on the offensive side of the ball. When Hartenstein is on the court, he will have to play mostly inside the paint, with him having no perimeter shooting. This will cause Chet to play more on the perimeter. While this is a good thing, it will also means that a smaller, quicker defender will be on him. Last year, he struggled at times when guarded by a quicker defender and wasn’t able to take advantage of smaller defenders.
Last year, Chet was able to play most centers off the court with his floor spacing and quickness. However, with teams getting more familiar with the Thunder, teams would take their center and put him on Josh Giddey. This would allow them to match a quicker player on Chet. Even though the defender was usually smaller than Chet, he wasn’t able to take advantage of this as much as the Thunder would have liked him to. This season, in the minutes he shares with Hartenstein, he could run into the same problem and struggle early on in those minutes.
The Last Word
The Thunder adding Hartenstein in the offseason was a must, as he helps fix their biggest weakness. However, in the minutes, Isaiah Hartenstein and Chet Holmgren share the court could force problems for Chet. It will not be shocking to see Chet struggle early in the minutes he shares with Hartenstein as they learn to play with each other. Nevertheless, for the Thunder to reach their full potential next year, they will have to learn how to co-exist. Finally, if they are unable to and both players struggle on the offensive side when playing alongside each other, this lineup that was once considered a positive for the Thunder could turn into a negative. Ultimately, this could force Mark Daigneault not to deploy it as much as he’d hoped he would be able to.
