Thunder extend Isaiah Hartenstein, trade Isaiah Joe

Per ESPN, the Oklahoma City Thunder have reached an agreement with Isaiah Hartenstein to extend his contract through the 2028-29 season. OKC will decline Hartenstein's $28.5 million team option for next season, and replace it with the first of a three year, $75 million deal. The deal includes a 15% trade kicker and a mutual option in 2028-29, setting the stage for another negotiation window when iHart is entering his age 30 season and OKC is set to trigger the repeater tax for the second time in franchise history.

Hartenstein has become the Thunder's fourth-best player since being acquired in the summer of 2024. The most important free agent in Thunder history helped them to a title in his first season with OKC, then continued to play the best basketball of his career in last season's campaign. He's efficient, unselfish, consistent, and the most essential rebounder on the team; iHart averaged 9.2 & 9.4 on 62.2% shooting in 2025-26.

One Isaiah stays, another goes

Earlier in the day, word broke that Isaiah Joe had been sent to the Pistons in exchange for two second round picks. Joe was scooped by VP & GM Sam Presti from the Sixers' scrap heap, developing into one of the league's very best sharpshooters across four seasons in Oklahoma City. Joe, 26, had a career year in 2025-26, draining 42.3% of his threes and scoring 11.1 points per contest.

Joe had a much better regular season than Aaron Wiggins, who was also shipped east (Atlanta) for two second-round picks. But the 6-year vet was also benched in a Western Conference Finals series where Jalen Williams and Ajay Mitchell were out and OKC was hurting for shooting, Mark Daigneault didn't trust the veteran duo to pick up the slack: outside of blowouts, neither guard saw more than 10 minutes against the Spurs' rotation of big, physical guards and wings.

It's been a busy week for the Thunder. Presti dealt Wiggins on Monday, drafted first rounders Aday Mara and Bennett Stirtz on Tuesday, grabbed Otega Oweh in the second round on Wednesday, was lazy on Thursday, then wrapped up the two Isaiah deals on Friday. The work's not over, with team options for Lu Dort and Kenrich Williams still up in the air while talks on an extension for Cason Wallace are ongoing. Our offseason timeline provides an overview of the key dates and decisions from now through October.

So far, the Thunder have shed north of $23 million from last year's roster by dumping Joe and Wiggins' salary and trimming Hartenstein's number by over $3 million next season (assuming the deal is flat). They'll save even more in luxury tax payments as the team trips that line for the first time in this championship era next season.

Stay tuned to Daily Thunder in the coming days for more on the cap situation and OKC gearing up for another season in pursuit of a title.

Thunder Offseason: 2026-27

Relevant dates and impact to the current Thunder roster

Daily ThunderDaily Thunder Staff