One of the top free agent acquisitions of the summer could make his debut for his new team as soon as Wednesday night. As Tim MacMahon of ESPN relays (via Twitter), Thunder center Isaiah Hartenstein has been upgraded to questionable for the first time this season.
Hartenstein appeared in three preseason games with the Thunder last month, but fractured his left hand just before the regular season began. At the time, the club said he would be reevaluated in about five-to-six weeks. That was just under five weeks ago, so if Hartenstein is activated for Wednesday’s matchup with Portland, he would beat his initial recovery timeline.
It’s worth noting that after Wednesday’s game, Oklahoma City will have four days off before beginning a four-game road trip on Monday in Sacramento, so if Hartenstein doesn’t play vs. Portland, he’ll have a few more days to gear up for his season debut. His return will be a major boon to a Thunder team that has also been missing centers Chet Holmgren and Jaylin Williams due to injuries and could badly use a frontcourt presence.
Here are a few more health-related updates from around the NBA:
- The Pelicans‘ injured list continues to grow. Already missing six regulars, the team has ruled out Brandon Ingram (bilateral ankle sprain) and Trey Murphy (right hamstring injury management) for the second end of a back-to-back set on Wednesday vs. Cleveland, per a team release. Rookie center Yves Missi, who has started the club’s past 10 games, is listed as questionable due to left shoulder soreness.
- Clippers wing Norman Powell, who has been the team’s leading scorer so far this season with 23.3 points per game, has been ruled out for Wednesday’s game vs. Orlando due to a left hamstring strain, tweets Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN. It’s not yet known whether Powell will have to miss additional time beyond that contest.
- Bulls forward Patrick Williams will miss Wednesday’s game in Milwaukee, having returned to Chicago prior to the end of the team’s road trip in order to undergo imaging on his sore left foot (story via ESPN). The Bulls dubbed the testing as precautionary and it doesn’t sound like they believe there’s any real cause for concern, but it’s worth noting that Williams underwent surgery on that same foot in February.
I guess Patrick Williams took the Kawhi comparison way too literally
Off topic but I had no idea Isaiah Hartenstein was African-American until a few days ago! The lightest skinned brother!!
IHart coming back is good news. Too bad we can’t see him and Chet together. Was looking forward to seeing that.
Williams could be another OG. Bulls got no clue about him. He’s what it looks like when a team messes with a 19 yr old development.
He is not gonna be anything more than a decent bench player. Buzelis has already started turning him into Wally Pipp. 20 yr old kid with a tiger mentality, making mistakes but learning fast. Watch out!
Babey J never knew about J.Kidd which shows he is just a recent bandwagon transferee to the Bay Area lore of great PG