Thunder agree to three-year deal with promising center
Center Isaiah Hartenstein.
Free-agent center Isaiah Hartenstein is headed back west, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, who reports that Hartenstein and the Thunder are in agreement on a three-year contract worth $87M.
Hartenstein, who began his NBA career in Houston in 2018 and had a breakout year with the Clippers in 2021-22, has spent the past two seasons in New York, primarily serving as Mitchell Robinson‘s backup at the five.
However, when Robinson went down with an ankle injury midway through the 2023-24 season, Hartenstein entered the starting lineup and acquitted himself extremely well.
In 75 regular-season games (49 starts), Hartenstein averaged 7.8 points, 8.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.1 blocks in 25.3 minutes per contest, making 64.4 percent of his shots from the floor and playing solid defense. He continued to start for the Knicks in the playoffs, where he registered 8.5 PPG, 7.8 RPG and 3.5 APG in 29.8 MPG.
Although the Knicks wanted to retain Hartenstein, they were limited to a maximum offer of approximately $72.5M over four years since they only held his Early Bird rights, which allowed for a raise of up to 75 percent on his $9.25M cap hit from 2023-24.
New York put that offer on the table for the 26-year-old, Ian Begley of SNY.tv confirms. The Thunder blew it out of the water by comfortably exceeding the total value of the Knicks’ best offer across just three years instead of four, though Stefan Bondy of The New York Post hears that the frontloaded contract won’t be guaranteed in the final season.
Rookie of the Year runner-up Chet Holmgren was the Thunder’s starting center last season and excelled in that role. However, Holmgren lacks the bulk to match up physically with some of the NBA’s bigger centers, and Oklahoma City was among the worst-performing teams on the boards, ranking 28th in rebounding percentage (48.4 percent).
Hartenstein will help out in both areas while also giving the Thunder another rim protector and a talented frontcourt passer. On top of that, he’ll be a crucial insurance policy at the five in the event of an injury. While Holmgren didn’t miss a game in 2023-24, he sat out his entire rookie season in 2022-23 due to foot surgery.
Their deal with Hartenstein is the latest move in an impressive offseason for the Thunder, who kicked off their summer by trading ill-fitting guard Josh Giddey to Chicago in exchange for three-and-D ace Alex Caruso.
OKC will use the rest of its cap room to sign Hartenstein, then will go over the cap to complete reported long-term agreements with Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins.
The Knicks, meanwhile, will be in the market for a center. Robinson and Jericho Sims remain under contract in New York, but with Hartenstein gone and Precious Achiuwa in unrestricted free agency, the team will need to add at least one big man.
Magic big man Goga Bitadze has been mentioned as a possible target for the Knicks, but Begley hears that Bitadze has an offer on the table from Orlando that New York likely won’t be able to top. The Magic had been mentioned as a possible Hartenstein suitor, so presumably they’re more likely to bring back Bitadze with Hartenstein off the board.
The Knicks’ ability to take on additional salary via trade or free agency will depend on how the Mikal Bridges trade is structured.
According to Begley, New York is confident it will be able to add enough salary to that deal to be hard-capped at the second tax apron instead of the first apron, creating an extra $11M in spending flexibility.
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