Thunder made safest free agent signing this summer (and it wasn't close)

Despite coming into the offseason with an obscene amount of spending power, the OKC Thunder opted to shy away from star chasing and, instead, prioritized addressing weaknesses within their talent pool and fleshing out their rotation.

A rather unsurprising turn of events considering the slow and steady approach GM Sam Presti has taken throughout this new-age rebuild in Loud City, the front office was quite specific and particular when it came to how they utalized their money.

The most notable splash the Thunder made in free agency was their signing of big man Isaiah Hartenstein to a three-year, $82 million deal on day two of the festivities.

Following a career campaign with the Knicks in 2023-24 where he dropped 7.8 points, 8.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 1.1 blocks a night, the 26-year-old played himself into becoming arguably the most sought-after center on the open market this offseason.

Still, even with this undeniable truth, some have gone on record to state that coughing up an average salary of $29 million for a limited, albeit proven impactful role player may have been an overpay move made by Oklahoma City, with others believing they could wind up regretting the decision altogether.

However, with the way Presti and co. structured this multi-year pact, concerns of the deal blowing up in their face should be virtually nonexistent, and Bleacher Report's Eric Pincus seems to agree with such a sentiment as he has Hartenstein's contract measuring in at a "2/10" on his "Potential regret level" scale, the lowest of all free agent signings made this offseason.

'Regret level' near zero for Thunder regarding Isaiah Hartenstein deal

As noted by the seasoned writer, the Thunder paid Hartestein "more than many people in the industry expected" coming into free agency. ESPN's front office insider Bobby Marks initially projected the big to land a deal somewhere in the range of "$13 million-$14 million annual salary.”

However, this prediction was made early in the offseason, and, as the weeks and months carried on, the seven-year veteran started to draw significant interest from several frontcourt-needy playoff hopefuls such as the Orlando Magic.

Because of this, in order to secure a win in the Hartenstein sweepstakeks OKC was forced to up the ante by roughly $15 million more per year than what projections were. Though this is a major financial jump from an on-paper perspective, when getting into the nitty-gritty of the agreement it's obvious the ball club came away with the upper hand.

With the way the pay structure is laid out, the big man finds himself on a decending deal from an annual salary standpoint, as he's expected to make $30 million in 2024-25, and then $28.5 million during the final two seasons.

What's more impressive is that, regarding these final two seasons, 2026-27 holds a team option, leaving just $58.5 million in guarenteed money.

Adding more fuel to the genius fire Presti started, Hartenstein's final year under contract is slated to come right around when the high-end, max extensions for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, and Chet Holmgren are projected to be kicking in, thus theoretically creating much-needed cap space for these large-cost financial additions.

Of course, these viewpoints on the deal should really only be seen as the insurance policies in the hypothetical scenario where the center fails to become the answer to the Thunder's frontcourt woes like may suspect he will be.

With his rim-protecting and rebound-gobbling style of play coupled with his enviable build (7-foot, 249 pounds), Hartenstein sports as the exact mold of player OKC could have used during their ill-fated semifinal bout against the Dallas Mavericks during last year's playoff run.

Should he live up to the hype, the Thunder will have brought on a major rotation piece to their title-hungry puzzle. Should he fizzle out and fall short of expectations, the club can simply cut bait on the experiment in just two years time.

Without question, this decision to sign Isaiah Hartenstein seems to be the safest move made during this summer's free agency period.