It’s all about fit, and chemistry, and specific role — and the early returns say that Oklahoma City knocked it out of the park with Isaiah Hartenstein and Alex Caruso. Caruso isn’t playing anywhere near his best basketball and is still one of the most impactful players on the roster.

Thunder center Isaiah Hartenstein's keys to a successful four-game Thunder road trip, starting against the Kings on Monday

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.

Concern around the Oklahoma City Thunder’s frontcourt without Chet Holmgren has been all but nullified thanks to the return and stellar play of Isaiah Hartenstein.

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

That depth of defenders combined with increased physicality is why Oklahoma City has the best defense in the league — and it has yet to play Hartenstein and Holmgren together (they haven’t been healthy at the same time). However, having just one of them back to clean things up at the rim lets those quality perimeter defenders be more aggressive.