Isaiah Hartenstein, Thunder Reportedly Agree to New $75M Contract, Updated NBA Salary Cap

Despite their roster getting more expensive with three players on max contracts, the Oklahoma City Thunder are keeping Isaiah Hartenstein through at least the 2028-29 season.

According to ESPN's Shams Charania, Hartenstein and the Thunder agreed to a new three-year, $75 million contract that brings his total earnings with the franchise to $134 million over five years.

Hartenstein's deal includes a maximum 15 percent trade kicker and a mutual option that allows both sides to rework the contract again in 2028 ahead of the final season of the deal.

The Thunder had $266.4 million in total salary cap allocations for 2026-27 prior to the deal, per Spotrac.

Hartenstein was signed by Oklahoma City as a free agent in July 2024 to be a finishing piece coming off the team's second-round playoff loss to the Dallas Mavericks.

The Thunder gave Hartenstein a three-year, $87 million contract, with a team option for the final season. It was a shrewd piece of business for the front office because the length of the deal lined up with when Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams would all become max players if they followed their initial trajectory.

That wound up coming to pass, as both Holmgren and Williams signed rookie max extension in July 2025. Gilgeous-Alexander also signed a four-year supermax at the same time.

Those three players will account for $123.3 million in salary next season. Gilgeous-Alexander's supermax doesn't kick in until the 2027-28 season, so the Thunder do get some breathing room before he starts making more than $60 million annually.

This summer really marked the first time since the Thunder became an elite team that general manager Sam Presti and the front office had to make any difficult decisions with the roster.

The Thunder are an NBA-high $28.6 million over the second apron next season. Hartenstein and Luguentz Dort both had player options to be decided on.

Oklahoma City is fortunate to already have a loaded roster in place that even with the second-apron restrictions, there isn't a lot that general manager Sam Presti and the front office need to worry about to upgrade.

But it has been made clear under the apron rules that teams are more cognizant than ever of how much they are spending of the limitations it can put on what they are able to do if a need arises.

Hartenstein has been an effective role player for the Thunder over the past two seasons. He averaged a career-high 11.2 points and 10.7 rebounds per game in his first season with the club.

The 2025-26 season saw Hartenstein's production take a slight step back, though he still led the team with 9.4 rebounds per game.

Given that the Thunder didn't have an obvious replacement on the roster for Hartenstein, it's not a surprise to see them extend his contract.