One of the summer's best free agent acquisitions could make his debut for his new team as early as Wednesday evening. As ESPN's Tim MacMahon relays (via Twitter), thunder center Isaiah Hartenstein was upgraded to questionable for the first time this season.
Hartenstein appeared in three preseason games for the Thunder last month, but broke his left hand just before the start of the regular season. At the time, the club said it would be re-evaluated in around five to six weeks. That was almost five weeks ago. So if Hartenstein is activated for Wednesday's game against Portland, he would beat his original recovery timeline.
It's worth noting that Oklahoma City has four days off after Wednesday's game before a four-game road trip in Sacramento on Monday. So if Hartenstein doesn't play against Portland, he still has a few days to prepare for his season debut. His return will be a huge boon for a Thunder team that has also been missing centers Chet Holmgren And Jaylin Williams due to injuries and could desperately use a presence upfront.
Here are a few more health-related updates from across the NBA:
- The PelicansThe list of injured continues to grow. Since six regular players are already missing, the team is eliminated Brandon Ingram (bilateral ankle sprain) and Trey Murphy (Right hamstring injury treatment) for the second end of a back-to-back set on Wednesday against Cleveland, per a Team sharing. rookie center Yves Missiwho has started the club's last 10 games, is considered doubtful due to left shoulder pain.
- Hair clippers wing Norman PowellThe team's leading scorer with 23.3 points per game so far this season is out for Wednesday's game against Orlando with a left hamstring strain. Tweets ESPN's Ohm Youngmisuk. It is not yet known whether Powell will miss additional time after this contest.
- Bulls forward Patrick Williams will miss Wednesday's game in Milwaukee as he returned to Chicago before the end of the team's road trip to undergo imaging on his sore left foot (Story via ESPN). The Bulls called the testing a precautionary measure and it doesn't sound like they think there's any real cause for concern, but it's worth noting that Williams was operated on on the same foot in February.
