Isaiah Hartenstein – OKC Thunder NBA Draft Prospect Series
By Rich Condon
Isaiah Hartenstein is the next potential OKC Thunder prospect up in the TI NBA Draft prospect series.
Tale of the Tape
Height: 7′ 0″
Weight: 250lbs
Wingspan: 7′ 2.25″
Position: Big Man
Age: 19.1
Statline: 4.2 points, 3.3 rebounds, 0.6 assists, only 12.7 minutes per game in LKL
College: Zalgaris, Lithuanian Basketball League (LKL)
Home Town: Eugene, Oregon
Current Rankings
As always, the rankings reflected below are as current as of the time this is being written and are subject to change.
DraftExpress: 19th
NBA DraftNet: 29th
Scott Howard-Cooper nba.com: ranks 7th on Howard-Cooper’s power forward list
The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor: 43rd
CBS Sports: 35th
Basketball Insiders: 27th
Jeremy Woo SI.com, The Crossover: 34th
Skills:
As reflected by his above rankings, the pundits are split on the young international prospect from Eugene, Oregon. His father, Florian Hartenstein was a German League legend. Isaiah, at this point, is all potential. He’s still extremely raw, but has shown flashes of being an effective stretch five. Although currently limited to mostly dunks, he attacks the rim and is a very nice lob target already. He’s already a capable ball handler, and is able to attack closeouts.
Hartenstein is an above average passer for a 19 year old big man, and showed a willingness to make the extra pass at Zalgaris. He isn’t afraid to use his body on defense and on the glass. Per 40 minutes, Hartenstein averaged 1.8 blocks per game. At 7’0″ tall and weighing 250 lbs, Hartenstein already has an NBA-ready body. In addition, he’s got some range from deep, though at this point, it’s inconsistent. Furthermore, he’s great in transition and runs the floor well for a big man. Already, Hartenstein appears to be a jack-of-all-trades for a big man. Consequentially, if everything develops for him, Hartenstein can be a very good NBA player someday.
Weaknesses:
The biggest issue with being a jack-of-all-trades, especially at age 19, is none of your skills are developed. Hartenstein doesn’t yet have a calling card that can crack him into NBA rotations. Even overseas, he only averaged a little over 12 minutes per game. Despite being a good passer, Hartenstein sometimes makes poor decisions with the ball. Even though he’s a good rim runner, he has trouble finishing through contact. He has no right hand- – like, at all.
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His shot is a bit of a mess. Hartenstein brings the ball down before raising up to shoot. Before releasing, there’s a slight hitch in his motion and he sort of catapults the ball back before releasing. It looks really weird, and the ball has a lot of side spin after it’s released. He makes some mental miscues, and his confidence waivers, which leads to him passing up open looks. He also has bad posture and plays hunched over. As a result, this can hurt his value as a rim protector.
Honors and awards:
- King Mindaugas Cup champion (2017)
- LKL champion (2017)
Pro Comparison:
The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor compares Hartenstein to Donatas Motiejunas, Troy Murphy, and Andrew Nicholson.
The Fit:
Although I like the potential of Hartenstein’s all-around game, he’s not yet ready to compete in the NBA, and feels more like a draft-and-stash option at this time. Hartenstein would be worth a draft-and-stash flier were he available in the 2nd round, and if the Thunder had a 2nd round pick this season.