Isaiah Hartenstein making major impact in area Thunder have been desperate for help

The OKC Thunder added center Isaiah Hartenstein this offseason in an effort to address their lack of size and overall physicality within their rotation.

Considering his enviable 7-foot, 249-pound build coupled with his established league-wide status as a two-way bruiser, the 26-year-old big seemed like the perfect match to provide these kinds of attributes.

However, since making his regular season debut last week after roughly a month-long delay due to a fractured left hand, it has become quite evident that I-Hart provides far more to this Thunder team than just rough-and-tough intangibles.

As expected, his recent addition to the rotation has resulted in highly predictable statistical improvements.

Oklahoma City as a whole has seen a nearly four-point bump in the offensive rebounding department and over a five-point decrease in their opponent's average points in the paint numbers.

However, arguably the most noteworthy impact he's had on the team has been in the interior scoring department.

Isaiah Hartenstein making a serious impact on Thunder paint scoring

Though undoubtedly a small sample size, as Isaiah Hartenstein has only suited up for two regular season games since being medically cleared last week, it's hard to ignore the correlation that exists between the club's increase in paint scoring production on offense and his presence within the rotation.

During their commanding 130-109 win over the Sacramento Kings on Monday night, the Thunder went on to score 56 points in the painted area, with the big man personally contributing 16 on his own on 66.6 percent shooting.

However, on top of his personal scoring feats, another 14 points generated from this area of the floor were directly the result of his teammates coming off screens set by him.

Following their blowout over Sacramento, the Thunder now find themselves registering an average of 56.0 points scored in the paint with their $87 million big active, good enough for sixth in the league over the last six days.

Comparatively, during the 15 games he was sidelined for to start the season, OKC stacked up at 14 overall with 48.8 points per night.

His skills as a screensetter have not just been noticed within the box score, but, also, via the eye test, especially from his own teammates. Following Monday's outing, Jalen Williams couldn't help but praise Hartenstein's impact on the Thunder, saying "he enjoys the role that he's in" and that "he's been really good for us" since officially joining the regular season rotation.

With a proper big like I-Hart now in tow, it seems scoring near the rim has become much easier and, perhaps more interesting, more sought after for the Thunder.