[Woj] Free agent C Isaiah Hartenstein has agreed on a three-year, $87 million deal with the Oklahoma City Thunder

[Patches Perry]

What a desperate reach by Presti. Has loads of cap room, tons of picks, yet chooses to overpay a role player.
Hart' is a feel good story but folds against real centers. Did nothing against the Pacers. Averaged 3.5/7 in 31 minutes for the 4 losses against the Pacers.
Presti has always failed at the final step, just did it again.

What should Presti have done to be successful, in your view?

[Jadoogar]

This is definitely a lot of money but it's very short deal. Allows the Thunder to address an immediate weakness and not hamper them long term when the Williams/Chet extensions come up. It's similar to what the Rockets did with FVV.

People are focusing too much on the raw numbers from Hartenstein. He's not going to put up huge numbers but he's going to play defense, grab boards, make floaters, and distribute from the post.

[Warriorfan]

Should have gotten Valaciunus for half the price
Or Andre Drummand for a 4th
Chet is closing C

[Ayt]

No doubt they won't suddenly fail, at least until the second round. But this team isn't any better, and has zero upside except for improvement from the 2 young guys. That's good, but still blowing the opportunity for greatness.
Like he's done before.

this is a ridiculous take. quibble with the fit of hartenstein, but hartenstein + caruso for giddey is a massive, game-changing talent upgrade for okc on both ends of the court. like, objectively speaking.

With advancing in the playoffs on the line and other Knicks hurt Hart delivered 3.5/7.
Role player for $30M a year.

Your point is so idiotic you can't even post his correct stats from that series.

[Slimjimzv]

Should have gotten Valaciunus for half the price

Did you watch the Thunder - Pelicans series? Dude was unplayable. And the price is irrelevant. They could have spent less, but to do what? Let the cap space expire? They're making a run for it. Something everyone was begging them to do last year. Now that they do it, they overspent. This is why GM's seem so short with both media and internet trolls. They'll always find something to complain about.

[Ayt]

Should have gotten Valaciunus for half the price

Why? How does he fit? Have you ever watched that team play?

[MrTribbiani]

This is definitely a lot of money but it's very short deal. Allows the Thunder to address an immediate weakness and not hamper them long term when the Williams/Chet extensions come up. It's similar to what the Rockets did with FVV.

People are focusing too much on the raw numbers from Hartenstein. He's not going to put up huge numbers but he's going to play defense, grab boards, make floaters, and distribute from the post.

It's an overpay but not a major overpay. From OKC's perspective, gambling on a player like Hartenstein is better than for example, using a lottery pick to gamble on a player like Zach Edey (I thought OKC was gonna do that, and it's a good thing that they didn't).

[bronxknicksfan1]

I mean you could argue his IMPACT on winning is there based on data. It doesn’t mean in a draft I’d take him there. But given the data we have he’s not close to overpaid. Especially with a non guaranteed 3rd year.

You're changing the argument. I never, ever said he's overpaid or close to. I'm responding to this top-15 player in the NBA stuff. Not even close.

the data honestly is kinda misleading imo.

his impact on winning looks so damn high because the knicks surged from 6 (i think?) to 2, starting last january and he played significant minutes cuz we dealt with tons of injuries and still won. he also played a significant role and stepped up, im not argueing that. he definitley wasnt the most impactful guy on the knicks during that "run" and for sure hes not one of the top15 most impactful players in the league.. what are we doing here?

i dont even wanna come across as a butthurt knicksfans or hater. i love ihart actually and understand why he took that deal and i also understand why they paid him.

People are looking at EPM and letting that be their end all, be all to determine a player’s impact. According to that, he was the best defensive player in the league last season. But then you tune into the playoffs and see him get dismantled by Embiid and Turner in back to back series and notice that our defense is much better with OG and Mitch out there.

Again, I love iHart and think what he provides on defense, rebounding and passing is really good. But he is best served as a backup on limited minutes.

[ConSarnit]

This is definitely a lot of money but it's very short deal. Allows the Thunder to address an immediate weakness and not hamper them long term when the Williams/Chet extensions come up. It's similar to what the Rockets did with FVV.

People are focusing too much on the raw numbers from Hartenstein. He's not going to put up huge numbers but he's going to play defense, grab boards, make floaters, and distribute from the post.

It's an overpay but not a major overpay. From OKC's perspective, gambling on a player like Hartenstein is better than for example, using a lottery pick to gamble on a player like Zach Edey (I thought OKC was gonna do that, and it's a good thing that they didn't).

I think there is some opportunity cost with the Hartenstein signing. OKC plays a distinct style and Hartenstein might compromise that. I would have taken a lower cost flyer on someone like Bitadze, experimented with a “traditional” big for 20mpg to see if that’s how I wanted to play. If that succeeded I would have tried to trade for a Hartenstein-adjacent C with some of my massive draft surplus. We’ve seen what guys like Poeltl/Capela/Adams go for in trades and it’s not that expensive. OKC still needs a 3rd creator and the IH signing has closed the door on that option (for now). If the IH signing doesn’t work he’s not going to be easy to get off of because he’s overpaid.

Bitadze (3/33) + $20m ball handler seems like a better hedge than spending it all on Hartenstein. That would have left OKC with more outs if the traditional C option/play-style isn’t working. I get that OKC had rebounding issues in the playoffs but they also a) gained playoff experience which should make them better (specifically JDub and Chet) and b) got rid of Giddey who was a big negative against the Mavs. Seems like they could have been more efficient in trying to solve what was really only a rebounding issue.

[Jadoogar]

This is definitely a lot of money but it's very short deal. Allows the Thunder to address an immediate weakness and not hamper them long term when the Williams/Chet extensions come up. It's similar to what the Rockets did with FVV.

People are focusing too much on the raw numbers from Hartenstein. He's not going to put up huge numbers but he's going to play defense, grab boards, make floaters, and distribute from the post.

It's an overpay but not a major overpay. From OKC's perspective, gambling on a player like Hartenstein is better than for example, using a lottery pick to gamble on a player like Zach Edey (I thought OKC was gonna do that, and it's a good thing that they didn't).

I think there is some opportunity cost with the Hartenstein signing. OKC plays a distinct style and Hartenstein might compromise that. I would have taken a lower cost flyer on someone like Bitadze, experimented with a “traditional” big for 20mpg to see if that’s how I wanted to play. If that succeeded I would have tried to trade for a Hartenstein-adjacent C with some of my massive draft surplus. We’ve seen what guys like Poeltl/Capela/Adams go for in trades and it’s not that expensive. OKC still needs a 3rd creator and the IH signing has closed the door on that option (for now). If the IH signing doesn’t work he’s not going to be easy to get off of because he’s overpaid.

Bitadze (3/33) + $20m ball handler seems like a better hedge than spending it all on Hartenstein. That would have left OKC with more outs if the traditional C option/play-style isn’t working. I get that OKC had rebounding issues in the playoffs but they also a) gained playoff experience which should make them better (specifically JDub and Chet) and b) got rid of Giddey who was a big negative against the Mavs. Seems like they could have been more efficient in trying to solve what was really only a rebounding issue.

The Thunder need to concern themselves with the top teams in the West, Minnesota and Denver. You can't bring Bitadze to a Jokic fight. Hartenstein isn't going to stop Jokic obviously but you need a big to hang with those teams.

[ConSarnit]

It's an overpay but not a major overpay. From OKC's perspective, gambling on a player like Hartenstein is better than for example, using a lottery pick to gamble on a player like Zach Edey (I thought OKC was gonna do that, and it's a good thing that they didn't).

I think there is some opportunity cost with the Hartenstein signing. OKC plays a distinct style and Hartenstein might compromise that. I would have taken a lower cost flyer on someone like Bitadze, experimented with a “traditional” big for 20mpg to see if that’s how I wanted to play. If that succeeded I would have tried to trade for a Hartenstein-adjacent C with some of my massive draft surplus. We’ve seen what guys like Poeltl/Capela/Adams go for in trades and it’s not that expensive. OKC still needs a 3rd creator and the IH signing has closed the door on that option (for now). If the IH signing doesn’t work he’s not going to be easy to get off of because he’s overpaid.

Bitadze (3/33) + $20m ball handler seems like a better hedge than spending it all on Hartenstein. That would have left OKC with more outs if the traditional C option/play-style isn’t working. I get that OKC had rebounding issues in the playoffs but they also a) gained playoff experience which should make them better (specifically JDub and Chet) and b) got rid of Giddey who was a big negative against the Mavs. Seems like they could have been more efficient in trying to solve what was really only a rebounding issue.

The Thunder need to concern themselves with the top teams in the West, Minnesota and Denver. You can't bring Bitadze to a Jokic fight. Hartenstein isn't going to stop Jokic obviously but you need a big to hang with those teams.

I’m not saying you have to go into the playoffs with Bitadze. I’m saying I would have wanted some proof of concept before I invested $30m into the 14th best center in the league (who doesn’t necessarily fit the play style I want to play). If things were looking solid with Bitadze I would have tried to upgrade before the deadline. People might disagree but I think centers of IH’s ilk are always floating around for trade, and the cost usually isn’t high (the Poeltl, Capela, Adams, etc level centers who have been traded for around one ok 1st). OKC also currently only has 2 ball-handlers. I would have rather used some of that IH money to address that need. If I had to guess OKC probably still wants to play small with Chet at C. That means IH is a 22-24mpg player and that’s not worth $30m. OKC small ball lineups (without Giddey) were still successful against the Mavs in the playoffs from a net rating perspective.

I think this could work for OKC but it’s not the path I would have taken. But it’s early and they can still address their creator issues through trade.

[ArksNetsSince99]

Dang, I was hoping the Knicks could snag Goga having lost iHart. Now he's gone too.

Good player but that's an overpay, or maybe they did it so Knicks can't match the offer.

We had offered him the most we could and he was likely going back to the Knicks without a big difference in price. Thunder had to come in way over.

You guys should trade for Nurkic somehow. Thibs can probably turn him into above average defensively and offensively he can provide about the same if not more than Hartenstein did.

Sell them Beal while you at it

[stillgotgame]

this is a ridiculous take. quibble with the fit of hartenstein, but hartenstein + caruso for giddey is a massive, game-changing talent upgrade for okc on both ends of the court. like, objectively speaking.

With advancing in the playoffs on the line and other Knicks hurt Hart delivered 3.5/7.
Role player for $30M a year.

Your point is so idiotic you can't even post his correct stats from that series.

In the 4 losses to the Pacers he averaged 3.5/7.
He's an off the bench energy guy that was in the right place at the right time.

[Castle Black]

Definitely an overpay but not a horrible one and he's a great fit for their system. Gives them a great bench piece and that much more depth. Ngl their roster is looking scary right now between the additions of Hartenstein and Caruso. Should definitely be the favorites out West this year imo, and will very likely ring within the next 1-3 years.

Sam Presti needs to come back to the Spurs already. I'm tired of what he's doing in OKC

[Revived]

Dang, I was hoping the Knicks could snag Goga having lost iHart. Now he's gone too.



We had offered him the most we could and he was likely going back to the Knicks without a big difference in price. Thunder had to come in way over.

You guys should trade for Nurkic somehow. Thibs can probably turn him into above average defensively and offensively he can provide about the same if not more than Hartenstein did.

Sell them Beal while you at it

Saving Beal for yall…need a scorer now that Bridges is gone.

[ArksNetsSince99]

You guys should trade for Nurkic somehow. Thibs can probably turn him into above average defensively and offensively he can provide about the same if not more than Hartenstein did.

Sell them Beal while you at it

Saving Beal for yall…need a scorer now that Bridges is gone.

No thx , we got CamJ

[ArksNetsSince99]

Sell them Beal while you at it

Saving Beal for yall…need a scorer now that Bridges is gone.

No thx , we got CamJ

Side note, that KD trade looks better and better for the Nets , so far it brought 11 unprotected first round picks and 4 seconds and we still have CamJ to sell

[Revived]

Saving Beal for yall…need a scorer now that Bridges is gone.

No thx , we got CamJ

Side note, that KD trade looks better and better for the Nets , so far it brought 11 unprotected first round picks and 4 seconds and we still have CamJ to sell

I don’t think CamJ will get much in a trade, most Nets fans don’t even seem to like him and think he’s overpaid and injury prone (which he is).

But yeah the KD trade is awful for us, I hated it when it happened. Hopefully we can ship him out this season to Houston and recoup some losses and maybe get Sengun back to pair with Booker.

[ArksNetsSince99]

No thx , we got CamJ

Side note, that KD trade looks better and better for the Nets , so far it brought 11 unprotected first round picks and 4 seconds and we still have CamJ to sell

I don’t think CamJ will get much in a trade, most Nets fans don’t even seem to like him and think he’s overpaid and injury prone (which he is).

But yeah the KD trade is awful for us, I hated it when it happened. Hopefully we can ship him out this season to Houston and recoup some losses and maybe get Sengun back to pair with Booker.

3 years left with total 68M salary isn’t overpaid by todays standards, I’ll say he is on moderate contract , he might bring another 1 FRP maybe couple seconds , but he is certainly not negative contract

[5IVE5TAR5]

Hartenstein is a great pickup for OKC as long as they're aware of the following things:

1) He's a sub-30 min big: Yes, you paid him almost $29M a year on an AAV basis. But he's most effective playing limited mins, especially with a nagging achilles injury that bothered him throughout the season. When he was forced to play 35+ mins, his efficacy decreased and he actually missed a couple games here and there due to fatigue.

2) Maximize the floater: He's A1 with the floater. It's not a great shot from an analytics perspective, but he's very good at it.

3) Use him at the top of the three point arc: He'll orchestrate your offense from there

4) Have some realistic expectations when tasked to defend Jokic and other bigs that command space

5) Don't really ask him to shoot 3s: He's more dangerous elsewhere

6) Don't ask for more than 10ppg..... not his game.

4) Have some realistic expectations when tasked to defend Jokic and other bigs that command space

How is he in drop coverage