This time around, Hartenstein may find himself in a similar predicament. The Knicks will be limited to offering their center a four-year, $72.5 million deal because of his early Bird rights. Any interested rival team will have the ability to double that amount — as much as $151.6 million over the same four-year length. There’s little expectation he’ll draw such a significant number, but league executives and cap strategists are projecting Hartenstein will be able to draw at least $80 million, and perhaps upward of $100 million, from a team hoping to steal Hartenstein from Madison Square Garden.
So, which team could attempt to pry Hartenstein free? Oklahoma City has been the potential destination most mentioned by team executives after rebounding woes plagued the Thunder during their second-round defeat to the Mavericks. Dallas bested OKC 287-241 on the glass over those six games.
In one respect, Hartenstein would seem incongruent with the rest of the Thunder’s roster and playing style, as Coach of the Year Mark Daigneault oversaw a drive-and-kick offense with Chet Holmgren at center and all five OKC players boasting the ability to create off the dribble. Hartenstein is not that, but his prowess as a dribble-handoff screener and passer — constantly slinging back-door bounces to Jalen Brunson and Donte DiVincenzo — could introduce an added dimension to what already exists with the Thunder. Hartenstein has also shown an ability to coexist with another big man amid various lineup structures with New York.
by UnbiasedNBAFan_
26 Comments
Pls stay IHart. Don’t join the foul baiter in okc
Starting to get a little strange that 99% of people think OG and iHart are returning and Fischer, a known Philly guy, publishes back to back articles hypothesizing based on loose “sources” that they could leave.
What a pro wants is not living in OKC
I’m sure iHart wants to keep his wife happy, but I doubt he’s willing to walk away from an extra $80m to make that happen.
Always be grateful for the two years of elite production on a value contract.
speculation. “league executives and cap strategists are projecting” – i read his number was speculated much lower prior to the playoffs… and he didn’t play that well in the playoffs.
the OKC talk seems weird for a team that is historically cheap. when is the last time they splurged on a free agent? they can’t even afford to pay the young stars they already have. not to mention chet is their center – he cannot play the 4. why would they pay that much for a backup 5? why would ihart want to go to OKC to be a backup?
Going to be a ton of noise about FA, trades, all that. Just ignore it.
That said, there is a real possibility that a team just blows our offer out of the water and he goes. We can’t control that.
What we can control gives us a better chance to overcome that however and that’s all we can do.
We have great management. Immaculate vibes. A great system to maximize players value and performance.
We are the basketball Mecca.
And NY has much to offer that few if any other cities can… this could be big for Hartenstein considering his wife’s modeling career.
But we can only do so much. Let’s hope there’s some trust that a creative solution can be found where there’s a way longer term to get him the cash – but if a team offers him 100M I just don’t see how we compete and for that we just need to adjust and move on.
Really hope Ihart but would be happy for him in Okc. They need a guy like him and he’d play a big role for a young talented team. Not that the opportunity here wouldnt be great as well
On the Roommates show iHart said he cares about being on a winning team with a big role. Those were the two big things, and the third was playing at MSG as opposed to places like New Orleans. OKC can only check the winning team box but only advanced as far as the Knicks even with a healthy squad. OKC has a great home crowd but the city issue is still there. Finally, can iHart really expect to play an important role on a squad that just recently reaffirmed their commitment to a five out offense? Yes his DHO and high PnR game with SGA might preserve the spacing OKC seeks to create but how many times has Presti emphasized dribbling passing and shooting as his criteria for players to draft trade and sign?
If iHart played like a Myles Turner I would be resigned to losing him to OKC, but I hope he feels like a critical piece of the core and culture being built here, whereas he would be an outsider fitting into a much younger OKC locker room.
I’m willing to bet multiple teams will be looking to snap away both iHart and OG from the Knicks.
Taking a $3-4M pay cut a year I can see, but no one is leaving $10M on the table to stay with a team.
This is a business.
Does his wife need a job? MSG has plenty office roles paying $5+ millions a year
I think we’ll see how confident they are with iHart with the draft. If they take a center in the draft then i’d start getting worried and that’s obviously assuming he doesn’t get locked up before the draft with is probably unlikely. Saw where it’s not in the Knicks best interest to lock up the big guys fast because once they are it’ll hurt what they can do because of the luxury aprons.
I don’t get this rule. Doesn’t the NBA want players to stay with their current teams? Why is any team limited to what they can pay someone?
people are saying that okc wants chet to stay at the 5. i don’t see why he couldn’t play the 4 next to ihart. i hope i’m wrong though
“Cap strategists” lmao
Hartenstein would be pretty dumb to give up 75 Million dollars. Even 20 Million is a lot, especially after taxes. If he had a bad season Knicks would have just let him walk. Hes gotta have some gaurantees under the table to resign with the Knicks if im him.
I can’t hate on the guy if he decides to take the biggest offer on the table. However he already has a great thing going on in NY and the fans love the guy.
Honestly Hartenstein is a great fit for OKC. If he does leave i want him to go somewhere and flourish. A lot of teams wouldn’t use him to his actual potential. OKC , Golden State , Memphis NEW YORK are great fits for his play style. While teams like the Lakers , Clippers Mavs not so much.
Did Fischer get anything right last year?
rest in peace
That would suck if y’all lost ihart and had to rely on Mitch. You wouldn’t be good next year
Anything is possible, and I know getting a 150m offer is ridiculously unlikely and an 80m offer is actually very likely.
Truth be told over 4 years is 8-10 million enough to make him move? I think no. That being said I really hope OKC comes in with a 80m offer and he says fuck it and stays in NY for less
I’d be surprised if Okc paid for him since they’re notoriously cheap. That being said who knows. If someone paid him more than we are allowed I can’t knock a guy for that
If he is a member of a Knicks team that wins the championship that is pretty much free everything for life.
Imagine going from Manhattan to Oklahoma City 🙈
He deserves to get paid but I hope he’s willing to stick with us. He did say he was willing to take a pay cut with the clippers before
Give him an Ohtani type contract