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Alternative Title: The Big Unknown, The Lone Solution



I have never heard of him before. Same can be said for Harry Giles. These last two players have some things in common: they're young, true centers, and came from lottery teams.

The Clippers big man problem is now permanent; small ball will be the name of the game. If either of them get playing time, they will be brought in solely to protect their core guys from fouling out or to counter the other team's centers, most likely the best ones around. Ibaka's status is still up in the air as he is recouperating from his back injury. Zubac is their default starter, and he can get better. Outside of that, Clippers will have to go Chuck Hayes this season, with the tallest shooting guards and forwards pretending to be center. Now the job of masqueration is going to get more complex.

I like it. I thought he played decent for Denver and then kinda got it together in Cleveland. Obviously a work in progress. Another young big to take a look at with low risk/high reward potential.

I imagine one makes the team and the other gets the 2-way contract maybe.

I’m surprised they haven’t released Coffey yet. Writing is on the wall they’re looking for a big man for the final spot.

Here’s a good thread (Murray has 5-6 more tweets) with some info on Hartenstein and Giles.

Absolutely love this move. Hartenstein has a ton of potential.

Yah, just as we were discussing on the other thread. A trad 5 has zero value in the 2021 NBA. Hartenstein couldn't even get a minimum contract, only a camp deal??

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Forget Zubac's trade value now. At $7M, he's ours for the duration.

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I'm a Clipper fan, don't watch the other teams much. But Hartenstein seemed to be quite fine as a middling 7-foot body out there. Depending on how Harry Giles does in camp, we might have to put him on the roster as cover at the 5.

Wammy Giveaway wrote:
I have never heard of him before.

His problems are mainly fumbling hands/no touch and fouling like crazy. This clip is sort of Hartenstein in a nutshell:



However he's still young and if he stops fouling he certainly has potential.

The fight for roster spot 15 looks like Giles vs. Hartenstein.

Two weeks apart in age—but they’re kind of opposites of each other. Giles had/has a tremendous toolkit and good IQ, and was calm and cool as a Dukie. Hartenstein is a (much) flashier player who spent time in the Euroleagues, particularly the youth leagues. He’s less of a thinker on the court, and needs work on most of the facets of his game--but the basic foundation is there.

So the question—can Giles regain the skills that Hartenstein needs to develop more of? Or has Hartenstein’s development already peaked/occurred? Should be interesting.

btw--both can play at PF, theoretically. Giles may have lost too much lateral quickness; Hartenstein is mobile, not but quick. Giles has good mechanics on his shot and a good midrange game, and showed he could extend it out to three with Portland last year (although last year was not a good year for him). Hartenstein needs more work on his shot, but improved as a passer (and finisher).

Let the battle begin

Still wish we would've snatched Petrusev if we were looking for a younger 5, but no point in crying over spilt milk. The battle for the last roster spot will be interesting, and I wouldn't doubt if both made the roster with one signing on as a two-way, since that slot is still open.

Still hoping we invite Lamine Diane to camp

Hartenstein looks very skilled for a 7 footer, shoots, passes, dribbles, dunks, moves without the ball, all very well. He also plays small for a 7 footer, shoots push shots from his head and dunks like a 6'5" guy. So in that regard I'm not sure he brings more to the game offensively than a decent SF. I'd rather have a C that brings muscle and rebounding, or is quick enough to the help perimeter D on rotations. He looks more like a bench mob scorer for blowout situations. Looks like a fun guy to watch, though.

I think I'd choose Giles at this point with his physical skills, rebounding and athleticism. You can always count on a throw-down dunk.

Should be a good training camp competition between these two pretty skilled 7-footers.

If memory serves, Hartenstein filled in for Capela quite handily when Capela went down to injury. I believe he was averaging nearly the numbers as Capela in that stretch, and slotted in smoothly. He seems a good stand-in for Zu, although I haven't looked at his advanced defensive metrics.

I imagine whichever is the more consistent defender/rebounder/hustler of the 2 is who we're gonna keep. I do think we need to keep one of them, I don't think we're going to play Ibaka heavy minutes (even relatively speaking) until he shows he's sound. Even then we still need an insurance policy big.

esqtvd wrote:Yah, just as we were discussing on the other thread. A trad 5 has zero value in the 2021 NBA. Hartenstein couldn't even get a minimum contract, only a camp deal??

Forget Zubac's trade value now. At $7M, he's ours for the duration.

He is still a net positive overall IMO, especially for us (but less trade value than I thought a few months ago.) I thought he was fine last season, but his ceiling seems not much higher than where he is right now. I am pretty sure there are plenty of teams that would take him off our hands for nothing though.

I really like Hartenstein's high-post (over) passing game, fwiw... brings a wrinkle that Zu/Ibaka/Giles don't quite have

This is great. Just great. If one of these guys works out, we're in really good shape.

He earned the backup spot. Congrats.

Congrats to Hartenstein, who played well. And—whether this puts him on the hot seat or not, I dunno—but I’m thinking we’ll have a chance to see his play/value. Serge is (just now) playing 5 on 5, and I can totally see him not being rushed back. We’ve got 5 games in 9 days(!) to start the season; I can’t imagine Serge playing the first couple of games, or playing anything like starters minutes. In other words, Hartenstein is a decent bet to get some real court time in some/all of those first 5 games. We may end up with a pretty good idea of what, if anything, he can add in the regular season.

Well deserved. Very excited to see what Hartenstein can do this season.

TrueLAfan wrote:Congrats to Hartenstein, who played well. And—whether this puts him on the hot seat or not, I dunno—but I’m thinking we’ll have a chance to see his play/value. Serge is (just now) playing 5 on 5, and I can totally see him not being rushed back. We’ve got 5 games in 9 days(!) to start the season; I can’t imagine Serge playing the first couple of games, or playing anything like starters minutes. In other words, Hartenstein is a decent bet to get some real court time in some/all of those first 5 games. We may end up with a pretty good idea of what, if anything, he can add in the regular season.

I think Giles could have worked out too, but we got lucky with Hartenstein IMO considering our center situation by the end of last year.

It's fortunate for us Hartenstein passed up guaranteed money in Cleveland, to look for and try to make a team that would be a better fit for him.