The Knicks wanted to re-sign Isaiah Hartenstein, but unfortunately, the numbers didn’t add up in time – and so, as they could only offer him four years at about $18 million per, the Thunder swooped in with a three-year, $87 million deal Monday, which the team can finalize Saturday.
And for all the goodwill the Knicks have built in the last week, Brandon Tierney’s tables have officially turned.
“I certainly don’t begrudge him for what he’s getting, and I love what this Knicks franchise is about – I implicitly trust Leon Rose – but the way I see it, in the course of two minutes, the Knicks go from a team that could win a championship to a team that cannot,” BT said bluntly. “We disagree so much on Isaiah Hartenstein’s value for this team and what he does flowing the offense…and all of a sudden, he had a big season and outgrew the contract.
It’s not the Knicks’ fault, things happen, but without Hartenstein, the Knicks are not a championship team.”
“I just don’t think it’s that big of a deal. I will say that if I had to choose Mitch or Hartenstein, I’s choose Mitch, you know that,” Sal replied. “But over the weekend, I felt maybe there was a chance, because he left the meeting with the Thunder and didn’t sign, and the knocks had time to try to find an offer. However, there’s no way the Knicks could go near $29 million a year, and they shouldn’t. He’s a nice piece, but let’s not overvalue him.”
And for Sal, really, even what the Knicks COULD offer might have been too much?
“For years, it was about getting the superstar and building a team with guards who could score and perimeter defenders – and now we’re worried about a backup center?” Sal asked. “He’s okay at a lot of things, but there’s no one thing he does well. I don’t need him to facilitate the offense; he should be insignificant. He was an integral part of this team this year, but that was because of injuries. Nice player, I wish him well, but I think the Knicks will be fine.”
“Well it’s good you mentioned injuries, because you can book it, if Mitchell Robinson is the starting center, there will be 25 or 30 games he’s not playing,” BT replied. “And even when he does play, he is really a liability down the stretch. I think we all like Mitchell Robinson does, but this is where we fundamentally disagree – I look at Hartenstein and he fits like a glove, but Robinson not so much. Hartenstein carved out a highly-valuable role for this team.”
It was the first few minutes of the show and the convo continued for quite a while – listen to it all above!