Isaiah Harteinstein gets brutally honest about taking a pay cut just to stay in OKC originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Many core players from the Oklahoma City Thunder's recent successful era have left the team. Lu Dort, Aaron Wiggins, and Isaiah Joe were all rotation players, but they had to adhere to the NBA's second apron rules. A lot of people thought Isaiah Hartenstein would also be out the door, but he re-signed with the team.
He signed a team-friendly contract over three years worth $75 million. It cut his annual salary by around $3.8 million, which reduced the cap hit for the Thunder. It will be a helpful pay cut in navigating the Thunder's adherence to the second apron.
Isaiah Hartenstein provides the key reason why he took a pay cut to stay in OKC
The Thunder were quite competitive against the San Antonio Spurs in the 2026 Western Conference Finals. A lot of people took them as the winners, considering they were the defending champions and the #1 seed from the regular season.
They had not lost a single game ahead of the Western Conference Finals, but the Spurs gave them a reality check. Of course, they did their best to prevent their opponents from winning, including Hartenstein performing well against Victor Wembanyama.
MORE: Sam Presti reveals that the Thunder traded Lu Dort away because of financial reasons
Since big men are getting more and more important by the day because of Wembanyama and Nikola Jokic's dominance, Hartenstein was an important player to retain for OKC. They managed to do so on a bit of a discount, which is something that Hartenstein was open to doing.
"I really wanted to stay with this team for the long term and continue playing for a title contender. Of course, I was aware of my market value. It was already higher than what we negotiated. But because of the second apron and the way the team is structured, I had to accept a slightly lower salary. It's still a lot of money, of course, but it's a pay cut I had to accept for the sake of the team," Hartenstein said to the Thunder Wire's Clement Almanza.
It is a challenging decision to come up with, but it seems Hartenstein is willing to miss out on a significant amount of money. That will be hard to do, but it seems he is intent on winning with the Thunder again, and that is the best way they could have done so.
More NBA news:
- Anthony Edwards sends a warning to the Spurs and the Thunder before the 2026-27 season even starts
- Kevin Durant pens a heartwarming retirement letter to his old running mate, Russell Westbrook
- Sam Presti releases a statement that celebrates Russell Westbrook's career
- Chet Holmgren's future could be in limbo due to Victor Wembanyama's success
- Chet Holmgren provides an honest reaction to the Thunder's offseason exits