That was especially the case after they acquired Isaiah Hartenstein and Alex Caruso. The pair of self-made veterans had similar upbringings from forgettable early years to key pieces of title contenders.

The Oklahoma City Thunder brought in Isaiah Hartenstein and Alex Caruso this offseason. Those two have hit the ground running together in Bricktown. Caruso spoke on the connection at OKC Thunder practice on Monday.

Hartenstein knew OKC was the right team for him when the team's decision-makers traveled to "some random hotel" in Eugene, Oregon.

Isaiah Hartenstein's last five months have involved lots of significant news. He joined the Oklahoma City Thunder — the sixth team of his career despite being 2

In his first 24 seconds of action this season, Isaiah Hartenstein grabbed a defensive rebound, ran a dribble handoff with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, created a potential hockey-like assist for an Alex Caruso 3-pointer initiated by a short-roll pass to the corner,