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

[ShootersShoot]

I'll be the first to admit that I wasn't a full believer in Boston's team last year but clearly they showed a blue print for putting solid role players with 2 top 15 -20ish players and having a solid 1 through 7.

It's weird after seeing this blueprint work masterfully that there are people crapping on this move by OKC in signing a very solid role player.

The celts added porzingas and jrue..I love hart but he isnt at their level.

[Lo Wang]

Jon Koncak 2.0?

Watch on YouTube

These videos do not seem to play on my browser for some reason.

*Edit

NM, I was able to click on the link to watch the video. However, this comparison is somewhat flawed because Hartenstein is a system player. Despite average stats and a high salary, his fit is similar to Lively's on the Mavericks: he fills a specific need as a strong rebounder (averaging 8.3 rebounds last season), and he uses his height and wingspan well for defense.

Last season, Hartenstein had the NBA's 2nd highest offensive rebounding rate, grabbing 14.4% of his team's missed shots. He sets effective screens for Jalen Brunson, and is expected to do the same for SGA. With Hartenstein on the Knicks last year, opponents scored 6.4% fewer points when he played. The team allowed just 111.8 points per 100 possessions, which would have ranked New York third in defensive efficiency over a full season.

In the competitive West, being strong on defense is crucial, and Hartenstein helps fill those gaps for the Thunder, making them a serious threat. He doesn't need big numbers; it is the same thing as adding Jrue to the Celtics. Shai, Chet, and JDub are going to carry the offensive load. Hartenstein only needs to man the middle, screen, rebound, and protect the rim.

He wasn't a full time starter.

What is your point? Please elaborate.

[SelfishPlayer]

These videos do not seem to play on my browser for some reason.

*Edit

NM, I was able to click on the link to watch the video. However, this comparison is somewhat flawed because Hartenstein is a system player. Despite average stats and a high salary, his fit is similar to Lively's on the Mavericks: he fills a specific need as a strong rebounder (averaging 8.3 rebounds last season), and he uses his height and wingspan well for defense.

Last season, Hartenstein had the NBA's 2nd highest offensive rebounding rate, grabbing 14.4% of his team's missed shots. He sets effective screens for Jalen Brunson, and is expected to do the same for SGA. With Hartenstein on the Knicks last year, opponents scored 6.4% fewer points when he played. The team allowed just 111.8 points per 100 possessions, which would have ranked New York third in defensive efficiency over a full season.

In the competitive West, being strong on defense is crucial, and Hartenstein helps fill those gaps for the Thunder, making them a serious threat. He doesn't need big numbers; it is the same thing as adding Jrue to the Celtics. Shai, Chet, and JDub are going to carry the offensive load. Hartenstein only needs to man the middle, screen, rebound, and protect the rim.

He wasn't a full time starter.

What is your point? Please elaborate.

He's still a projection. He received the contract of a good full time starter. He has never been that. That wasn't his role as a Knick. He was a reserve player that started some games.

[SweaterBae]

wrong. my point is, that hes a backup / role player and not some all star, which the money would indicate.

Lo Wang is trying to troll with his "elevated" eloquence and sweaterbae needs to improve their reading comprehension. Thats why i dont really feel like further elaborating, your request is not genuine.

You're clueless. Allstars make $50,000,000 today. The only reason you're in this thread is because your team lost a guy you wanted to keep and now you're pumping copiuim. The fact that you can't comprehend why he fits well, and is only on a 3 year deal, is embarrassing.

dude.. i even said, its a good signing. thanks for proving my point

You said the money would indicate he's an all star.

[Moose]

You're clueless. Allstars make $50,000,000 today. The only reason you're in this thread is because your team lost a guy you wanted to keep and now you're pumping copiuim. The fact that you can't comprehend why he fits well, and is only on a 3 year deal, is embarrassing.

dude.. i even said, its a good signing. thanks for proving my point

You said the money would indicate he's an all star.

It might be a tier below based on IQ and OG's contracts, but I think you can call this an overpay and still like the signing

OG was an overpay, but it had to be done. And you could argue the Knicks traded an extra first and a pick swap as an overpay

But they are now on the cusp if healthy

The Thunder are indicating they are all-in with this move. Maybe they try to make a big trade at the deadline.

[stillgotgame]

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.

[Lo Wang]

He wasn't a full time starter.

What is your point? Please elaborate.

He's still a projection. He received the contract of a good full time starter. He has never been that. That wasn't his role as a Knick. He was a reserve player that started some games.

He is going to be a starter on the Thunder.

[Lo Wang]

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.

With the acquisitions of Hartenstein and Caruso, the Thunder have solidified their position as the best defensive team in the league. Hartenstein is an excellent fit, and Presti's recent moves have been consistently homeruns. The notion that he will suddenly fail is unfounded and absurd.

[Phish Tank]

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.

[stillgotgame]

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.

With the acquisitions of Hartenstein and Caruso, the Thunder have solidified their position as the best defensive team in the league. Hartenstein is an excellent fit, and Presti's recent moves have been consistently homeruns. The notion that he will suddenly fail is unfounded and absurd.

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.

[slick_watts]

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.

[SelfishPlayer]

What is your point? Please elaborate.

He's still a projection. He received the contract of a good full time starter. He has never been that. That wasn't his role as a Knick. He was a reserve player that started some games.

He is going to be a starter on the Thunder.

Paying a backup like a good starter is a recipe for disaster.

[stillgotgame]

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.

[slick_watts]

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.

ok...? i really couldn't care less about one playoff series but even in that series hartenstein was way better than jaylin williams and josh giddey were for the thunder in the playoffs.

[MGB8]

Hartenstein is a great pickup. Can shoot more than he did on the Knicks, but that isn’t his value. His value is that he is a switchable big with size to defend the interior, and enough lateral mobility to defend on the perimeter. He isn’t going to score a ton - and he doesn’t have to on the Thunder. He has to grind and grime, and that is exactly what he is going to do, at a very high level.

[garrick]

Everyone needs to calm down.

Only the first 2 years are guaranteed and it's a front loaded contract. The Thunder are about 30M under the salary cap so they really need to spend that money this season and they really aren't getting anyone else signing in OKC because it's one of the least desirable NBA cities because who really wants to live in OKC?

[Special_Puppy]

Didn't know that Isaiah Hartenstein had so much game. https://people.com/sports/who-is-kourtney-kellar-isaiah-hartenstein/

[Lo Wang]

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.

With the acquisitions of Hartenstein and Caruso, the Thunder have solidified their position as the best defensive team in the league. Hartenstein is an excellent fit, and Presti's recent moves have been consistently homeruns. The notion that he will suddenly fail is unfounded and absurd.

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.

What do you mean by greatness? The Thunder, much like the Celtics, exemplify a complete team. Why is there a prevailing notion that signing a high profile star is always advantageous while securing role players is seen as a setback? In reality, the most significant successes come from players who address specific needs, rather than from acquiring big names with hefty contracts like the Suns.

The best teams, such as the Celtics, have players that excel in a specific role. The Thunder have achieved this with Caruso and Hartenstein. Those guys don't post impressive numbers, appear in commercials, or will even make the All-Star team, but they fill a crucial role that complete the team.

That's more important than signing any all star.

[PistolPeteJR]

Tell me what’s inaccurate about the post?

If you’re suggesting he’s a top 10-15 player in the NBA or anything remotely close to that because of said metrics, fat no.

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.

[NoStatsGuy]

If you’re suggesting he’s a top 10-15 player in the NBA or anything remotely close to that because of said metrics, fat no.

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.