Thunder News: 3 Shocking side effects of Isaiah Hartenstein's hand injury

Thursday, news broke that OKC Thunder big Isaiah Hartenstein sustained a "small, non-displaced" left hand fracture during Tuesday's preseason matchup against the Denver Nuggets.

Per ESPN's Shams Charania, the club's newly minted $87 million man will be shut down for the remainder of the preseason and "will be re-evaluated in five-to-six weeks," which, in turn, will have him residing on the sidelines during the early stages of his debut regular season in Loud City.

With opening night's tip-off exactly a month out, Mark Daigneault and company have their work cut out for them when it comes to finding ways to make up for the upcoming absence of their splashy free agency pick-up.

Both good and bad, there are several potential ripple effects to this unfortunate injury update.

Side effects of Thunder center, Isaiah Hartenstein's hand injury

Chet Holmgren the unquestioned starting center

The addition of Isaiah Hartenstein this summer was widely viewed as a major plus, as it added much-needed size and strength to Oklahoma City's rather featherweight frontcourt. However, perhaps the lone drawback of the signing was the idea that reigning rookie phenom, Chet Holmgren would be moved from the pivot position up to power forward.

While the 22-year-old has gone on record stressing confidence in his ability to adapt to this new role within the rotation, there were still some doubters over just how effective this shakeup would wind up being, as boasting a starting lineup consisting of two natural centers is considered an old school arrangement.

Though such a lineup seemed to look rather promising during their limited action in the preseason, as they managed to blow out the Nuggets by 30 in their one game of running the double-big set in the first five, I-Hart's hand injury will now likely force the Thunder to revert to their scheme with Holmgren serving as the primary five for the foreseeable future.

Not a terrible scenario considering they won 57 games with such a rotation.

Opportunities for Ousmane Dieng live on

Ousmane Dieng has already found his role within the Thunder rotation increase exponentially following Jaylin Williams' hamstring injury earlier this preseason. Through 4 games played, the 21-year-old finds himself leading all players on the Thunder in minutes per game (26.3) and, with this extended action, is averaging 10.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, 4.0 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks.

Though perhaps rather inconsistent with both his efficiency (shooting just 39.5 percent from the floor) and per-game production (half of all this statistical totals came in a bout against non NBA talents on the New Zeland Breakers), it's undeniable that the forward has shown flashes of why he was taken with a lottery selection back in the 2022 NBA Draft.

Of course, with the fact that there's only one more preseason game remaining on the docket, the idea was that Thursday's exhibition against the Atlanta Hawks would be the last time Dieng would see considerable time on the hardwood, as OKC's frontcourt rotation at full strength is too stacked for him to warrant any serious playing time.

However, with J-Will and Hartenstein's injuries, there's a strong possibility that Dieng's increased opportunities will roll right along into the regular season... at least, during the first few games of action.

Dillon Jones could realistically see time at center

Rookie Dillon Jones has impressed both fans and franchise personnel during his tenure with the Thunder thus far due, in large, to his impressive versatility and rotational switchability.

Despite measuring in with a general wing's build of 6-foot-5, his enviable wingspan (6-foot-11), weight (235 pounds), and mixture of both finesse and bully ball styles of play has allowed Oklahoma City's coaching staff to use him anywhere from an on-ball guard to an off-ball center.

Upon first hearing word of experimental lineups with Jones down at the five, many gave no real thought to this bleeding over into regular season action -- after all, the Thunder were manhandled by bigger frontcourts last season, especially during their ill-fated playoff run, so the idea of rolling with a guy like Jones at center seemed to be counter productive.

That said, with the recent injuries to both Jaylin Williams and Isaiah Hartenstein, OKC finds itself without any real options to push out at the pivot behind Chet Holmgren except for the still very raw Ousmane Dieng.

Because of this, while it may have once been seen as a wild idea for the club to realistically consider, should no moves be made between now and their October 24 season opener to add a new frontcourt talent, there's a strong possibility that Dillon Jones could actually be used as a small-ball five.