Knicks still hope to bring back Isaiah Hartenstein, but he meets with Thunder
Knicks center Isaiah Hartenstein gets the rebound and passes around Pacers forward Aaron Nesmith in the third quarter in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals on May 19 at Madison Square Garden. Credit: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams Jr.
The official start of free agency came without the usual fireworks on Sunday, just the slight pop of Andre Drummond agreeing to terms with the Philadelphia 76ers on a two-year, $10 million deal to serve as a backup center, the first announcement of an NBA free agent actually switching teams.
For the Knicks, though, even that minor move might have repercussions. They could find themselves in search of a backup center with little to spend.
The free agent who is the biggest key to the Knicks’ plans was in Oregon, meeting with members of the Oklahoma City Thunder’s front office.
The courting by the Thunder was no surprise. OKC had seemed a perfect fit for Isaiah Hartenstein in role and available cap space.
The Knicks, of course, also fit well with Hartenstein. He was a part of their team for the last two seasons and raised his game to its highest level. But in having a career-best season when he stepped into the starting lineup for much of the 2023-24 season, he may have priced himself out of the Knicks’ plans.
The Knicks are still trying to create enough cap room to be able to offer Hartenstein the most they are allowed by the CBA — a deal that would start at slightly more than $16 million next season.
If they can clear that space, it can lead to a four-year, $72.5 million deal or a deal with an opt-out next summer, when they could reward him with a much more lucrative contract.
The efforts to clear that room, and role, have had the Knicks investigating possible trades for Mitchell Robinson, who will earn $14.3 million next season and whose starting job Hartenstein took while Robinson spent much of the season dealing with a fractured ankle.
On Sunday evening, Robinson posted on Instagram: “Let’s see what happens the next few days.” Even while appearing on “The Roommates Show’’ with Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart in an episode that posted Thursday, Robinson joked about the possibility of a trade.
The awkward part of this is that he and Hartenstein developed a close friendship during their two seasons together, and one could be gone now.
During the season, Hartenstein spoke openly about the unrestricted free agency that would follow a year in which he emerged as a nice complementary piece in the Knicks’ starting lineup.
“It’s great timing,” he said earlier in the season. “I can’t lie about that. I feel like I always knew I could be a starter in the NBA. Now just proving it with Mitch being out and I know I’m a starter in the NBA.”
Even with Robinson back, the Knicks could promise Hartenstein a starting role. He remained the starter when Robinson returned from injury late in the season and into the playoffs.
But the Thunder fit nicely, too. They are in need of a center who can provide the rim protection and rebounding that Hartenstein provides while allowing them to move Chet Holmgren to his more suitable position of power forward.
The Knicks at least could take some solace in the early silence. Free agency often is accompanied by a flurry of announcements of agreements — and there were some — but the Thunder contingent traveling to visit with Hartenstein would seem to signify that they were still in the recruiting process rather than just exchanging salary numbers.
For Hartenstein, who got married during his time in New York (to a woman from Texas, not far from Oklahoma City, and they had their first child recently), the decision could come down to money. But the position is important, too. He made little secret of his belief in himself.
“I think it’s a normal thing in life,” he said in an interview in January. “I would be lying if I said I never thought about it. The main thing right now is focusing on this season. I think through that everything will come to what I want to happen. I love New York. I feel like if we can both get to that agreement, I would rather have that continuity and be here. That’s the main thing.”
Earlier this season, Brunson said: “Outside of this organization, there was a question mark on ‘would he be able to do this?’
“All of us believed in him inside this organization, the team, the coaching staff, everything we knew he was capable of, and he’s been performing. He’s been playing well. He’s been just locked in every single night, doing the dirty work and just playing his style of basketball, which has been fantastic. So we knew he was capable of this.”
Now the question is whether he showed too much.
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.