Thunder wooed Isaiah Hartenstein with expanded role Knicks couldn’t offer
NY Post
Part of the reason Isaiah Hartenstein chose Oklahoma City was an opportunity to “expand my game a lot,” he said Saturday — specifically, showcase an offensive skill set that wasn’t encouraged by the Knicks.
“If you’re an NBA player, you have to adapt to certain roles. And that’s what I did in New York,” Hartenstein told reporters after officially inking his lucrative deal with the Thunder. “My passing only came out in the last year. My first year, I had to adapt to a certain role. So I feel like I can get back to that shooting aspect. Before, I was shooting, so I want to get back to that even more.”
In his first season with the Knicks in 2022-23, Hartenstein wasn’t shy about his difficulty adapting to the limited offensive role of a center in Tom Thibodeau’s system — which was mostly predicated on screening and rebounding. It was different at his previous stop with the Clippers, where Hartenstein hit the occasional 3-pointer at a strong percentage and racked up more points and assists per minute. Hartenstein had more opportunities with the ball last season, as he mentioned, but the 26-year-old believes Thunder coach Mark Daigneault will enhance his game.
“I’ve been in a lot of situations. I know how to adapt,” he said. “But the way they play here is really exciting for me. It can expand my game a lot, especially offensively.”
Of course, the other big factor was money. The Knicks were capped at an offer of four years, $72.5 million, which they kept on the table until Hartenstein signed elsewhere. The Thunder gave Hartenstein a three-year, $87 million contract — though the final season, as The Post reported, is a team option. The guarantee is two years and roughly $58 million — or about an $11 million higher average salary than the Knicks’ offer.
It was a difficult decision for Hartenstein, who had a guaranteed starting spot in New York and chemistry with his teammates. His role in OKC isn’t set — “We don’t make promises on minutes; we don’t make promises on roles; we make promises on environments,” team president Sam Presti said Saturday — but such a financial commitment doesn’t happen without plans for playing time.