People, apparently, don’t realize how gargantuan new Thunder center Isaiah Hartenstein is. People meaning Alex Caruso .
Hartenstein is a real 7-footer. Not 6-foot-11 but staring eye level at a genuine footer. Not 6-foot-10 with the aid of Timberland boots. Seven feet and 255 pounds, the kind of size that can toss anyone around.
Caruso, as rigid as a crowbar, found out as much Tuesday on the opening day of Thunder training camp .
“He hit me on a couple screens today, and I’m getting back into the swing of things,” Caruso said. “A couple of them I just hit, I was like, ‘Ah!’”
Caruso could cue up as many YouTube highlights as he’d like. The real thing is jaw breaking. But Hartenstein’s stature was fairly well perceived and revered upon arrival. Caruso’s impression was as far as things seemingly ventured toward the unexpected on Day 1.
For Hartenstein, that means looking like the defender and screener OKC yearned for. Though it isn’t entirely unexpected, and each has only seen a single day, the learning curve as team defenders doesn’t seem comparable to what they might have to digest offensively. For what it’s worth, neither seems to be a problem by training camp standards.
“Obviously a lot of our offense is slipping screens and trying to get out fast and get underneath. (Hartenstein) gives a different element,” Gilgeous-Alexander said.
“He can really pass, that’s what I got from today. Can really make the next play. What we all expected.”
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Caruso has noted that he isn’t in Oklahoma City to be anointed as some leader because of his age — he’d like everyone to know he’s 30 years young — but instead slipping into place. He’s done some of everything everywhere: Earned his keep, played with Hall of Famers, become a champion, been a veteran for a team with little direction.
The former Bulls guard comes with veteran tendencies that’ll prove useful. He spent Tuesday encouraging players like big men Chet Holmgren and Jaylin Williams to be more vocal. But generally, his arrival in Oklahoma City is to be who he’s been at his core — an additive, feisty, pluggable guard who can read a room — not someone new.
Gilgeous-Alexander knows that player well.
“Exactly what it’s been in the past: annoying as hell,” the All-NBA guard said of Caruso.
Hartenstein and Caruso were each brought in to patch the holes of a young role that pushed a team that eventually represented the West in the NBA Finals. That’s a longer process than simulations and depth charts give credit to. A seamless acquisition isn’t always so seamless.
Caruso has G League stories, dealt with the magnitude and pressure of being a LeBron James teammate, and fought and clawed on the teams Bulls executive Arturas Karnisovas withered away. New York was the first real shot Hartenstein got in the league.
Harping on roles and adjustment, though necessary, are trivial in their worlds.
So the good thing about acquiring both Caruso and Hartenstein? After playing through multiple contracts, almost nothing comes as a surprise to either of them.
“I think the easiest thing for both of us is that we both play really hard,” Caruso said. When you have that as your base and your foundation, the rest of the stuff will fall into place.
“If you’re worried about trying to figure stuff out instead of giving 100% effort every time, now you have to juggle back and forth about figuring those out.”
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This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OKC Thunder's Alex Caruso, Isaiah Hartenstein's early impressions align with expectations
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