Just as health woes were starting to turn into a thing of the past for the OKC Thunder, the injury bug had to pop its ugly head out and take another sizable chomp upon one of the club's most important contributors.
Oklahoma City's PR team announced Wednesday that starting big man Isaiah Hartenstein sustained a left soleus strain during Tuesday's win over the Philadelphia 76ers and is slated to be re-evaluated in one week.
Not only is this news unfortunate on account of the fact that the Thunder have already endured a slew of injuries this season, particularly within their frontcourt rotation, but this will serve as the center's second stint on the sidelines after kicking off his debut campaign in the Sooner State nursing a left-hand fracture for their initial 15 slate.
To some, Hartenstein's situation may not be seen as all that debilitating on account of the fact that OKC is the top-seed in the Western Conference at 33-6, hold a sizable seven-win edge over the second-seeded Rockets, and have already managed to withstand a big-less stint this year (went 3-2 without the likes of I-Hart, Chet Holmgren, or Jaylin Williams in the fold).
However, for the front office, this situation at hand could serve as something of a wakeup call for them needing more reinforcements at their clearly brittle center position and, in a sense, might even alter their trade season agenda.
Thunder may want to consider prioritizing big men this trade season
Throughout the past few months, fans and pundits alike have been buzzing about the idea of the Thunder pursuing extra perimeter scorers before the trade deadline to help raise their currently mediocre level production from beyond the arc (rank 19 in long-range shooting at 35.4 percent).
Because of this, many names such as Collin Sexton and, more regularly, Cameron Johnson have been found liked to the club as possible and popular targets to pursue before February 6's cut-off.
However, with the recent injury to Hartenstein, there's a strong case to be made that while more long-range shooting is still a desired attribute for Mark Daigneault's scheme, arguably more imperative is bringing on extra size to strengthen their bruised and battered big man depth.
As things currently stand, Jaylin Williams (6-foot-9) is the only regular rotation player on this Thunder team who measures in at above 6-foot-8, though, considering his specific style of play, he's more of a four than a five.
The return date for typical starting pivot, Chet Holmgren is still far too unpredictable, and, even when he comes back, considering his slender frame and checkered history of health, there's far from a guarantee that a re-injury to his right iliac wing fracture won't occur.
Now, with Hartenstein back on the shelf, it's likely that 6-foot-5 wing Jalen Williams will be once again inserted in at the five spot which, though such an experiment played out well from a statistical standpoint (26.2 points, 7.3 rebounds, 5.7 assists, 2.7 steals, and 1.2 blocks through six games), it's far from a recipe for success in the long-run, especially during the rough-and-tough postseason.
With this in mind, heading into these final few weeks of trade season the Thunder may want to tweak their game plan to not just prioritize targeting floor spacers and spark-plug offensive generators, but, also, trusty frontcourt weapons and "break glass in case of emergency" type centers and tweener bigs for their hopeful championship push in a few months time.
If they entered the playoffs with this current configuration, there's a realistic possibility that they could see an early-round exit. However, with a security big man option in the fold, they'd have a much stronger chance of staying afloat.
The time to act is now!