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Isaiah Hartenstein is expected to receive a contract offer between $80 million and $100 million, league executives told Jake Fischer of Yahoo! Sports.

The Knicks can only offer Hartenstein a four-year, $72.5 million deal due to early Bird rights.

The Thunder are reportedly interested in Hartenstein.

Nic Claxton is also expected to receive a similar deal as Hartenstein. 

Via Jake Fischer/Yahoo! Sports

I thought early bird rights were designed to help a team retain their player :crazy

2020 wrote:I thought early bird rights were designed to help a team retain their player :crazy

That's what 'Bird rights' are, 'early Bird rights' are intentionally more limited and don't go as far. Basically, if a player has only been under contract for 1-2 years, you can only go so far over the cap and offer only so much $ to keep them. If a player has been under contract for 3+ years then they have full Bird rights and teams can go as far over cap or spend as much as they want to keep them.

Given the choice between the 2 in free agency -- would give the overall edge to Nic Claxton if a team were in the market of center.

While the stats are similar overall, there is a reason why iHart has bounced around the league - needed a particular system to thrive in. He showed his potential in LA but has finally found a home in NYC and a system that fits him perfectly. More so he has supplanted Mitchell Robinson as the starting center.

In contrast, Nic Claxton ( despite constant roster / coaching turnover in Brooklyn ) - has continually improved each season to the point where he has shown flashes of DPOY potential. You can plug-in Claxton into any system and he will thrive.

Excited to watch the future of these 2 players.

Man, when Hartenstein played for the Nuggets he couldn't even catch a pass, fumbled it like 80% of the time. Now he's worked his way into $80 mill. Good for him.

BigGargamel wrote:Man, when Hartenstein played for the Nuggets he couldn't even catch a pass, fumbled it like 80% of the time. Now he's worked his way into $80 mill. Good for him.

Hard work and dedication.