Money talks and that’s one big reason why Isaiah Hartenstein walked away from the Knicks in free agency. It was a difficult decision for Hartenstein, Stefan Bondy of the New York Post writes, because he wanted to stay in New York.
But as a player who had earned approximately $23MM so far in his NBA career, Hartenstein couldn’t pass up on the Thunder‘s three-year, $87MM offer, which will pay him about $30MM in year one, especially given the more favorable cost of living in Oklahoma City, Bondy writes. The Knicks held the center’s Early Bird rights, limiting them to a four-year, $72.5MM offer.
We have more from the Atlantic Division:
- Celtics co-owner Steve Pagliuca suggested in a statement relayed by Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe (Twitter link) that he’s not looking to divest from the team. Earlier on Monday, it was made public that the team’s majority ownership group, led by Wyc Grousbeck, intended to put the franchise up for sale. Pagliuca’s statement reads in part, “Being a co-investor and managing partner of the Celtics has been a great honor and a labor of love. I hope to be a part of the Celtics moving forward and will be a proud participant in the bidding process that has been announced today.”
- The Sixers had little choice but to pursue Paul George on the free agent market in order to keep up with the Eastern Conference contenders, Sam Amick of The Athletic opines. It was the best move available on the board, according to Amick, and keeps them alive in the chase for next year’s conference title.
- The Nets must choose among two paths in their rebuild, according to Brian Lewis of the New York Post. They could make up to four first-round picks in a loaded 2025 draft and spend $80MM in free agency in an effort to accelerate the process or they could take a longer route. In that scenario, they could trade Ben Simmons, Bojan Bogdanovic and Dennis Schröder — players that come off the cap next summer — this offseason for unwanted multiyear contracts and more picks.
Ben Simmons, Dariq Whitehead and 2 second round picks for Zach LaVine and Jevon Carter
Brooklyn then have this decent side with
Schroder LaVine Johnson DFS Claxton
Carter Thomas Bogdanovic Clowney …
Don’t expect them to make any noise but if they did you wouldn’t be surprised either. You’d be doing Chicago a solid taking LaVines contract aswell as Carters, although Ben Simmons basically won’t ply all season so you give them Whitehead and some second round picks.
Dennis and LaVine can give you problems, Cam is a sniper, DFS gives you that 3 and D ability too (potentially cash in for him at the deadline for a first round pick) then Claxton locks it all together.
Carter and Thomas would be alright off the bench together too.
Chicago, you get a bunch of FA spending money next offseason with Lonzo and Simmons expiring. Coby and Josh in the backcourt, Pat Will, Jalen and Vuce. Off the bench Ayo Whitehead and Buzelis. Longer road to recovery for them but atleast financially your taking steps in the right direction. Who knows maybe countryman Josh Guddey can convince Ben Simmons to play some PF minutes in which case you’d have a side with really good ball movement and good defence.
Win-Win for both side rebuilding in some ways
Nobody is giving up draft assets for LaVine with that miserable contract
If anybody in the NBA offered picks for LaVine, Chicago would’ve taken it in a heartbeat
So the rebuilding Nets who have been counting down the days until the Simmons contract is up should deal his expiring contract for what is widely considered the worst contract in the NBA. The Nets are trying to be bad on purpose. Thats why they gave up what they did to get their own pick back.
You can’t successfully rebuild if you’re picking 7-14 every year. Ask the Bulls.
If the Suns do end up blowing it up… Ben for Beal and whatever picks the Suns have left would be the route. LaVine and Poole are really the only other truly bad contracts out there. John Collin’s might not be bad enough to warrant the Jazz dumping him.
As for Hartenstein, yes it’s an overpay but it’s calculated.
My guess is they will run with this team for the season and see how it’s goes, just like last season when they avoided trading for Pascal and ran it out. That’ll give this young team all the experience that it needs to then flip the switch and try really go for a run at multiple titles.
Give it a season and they will be looking to trade Hartenstein along with some of the young talent and picks for another star. Pains me to say as a Sixers fan but It wouldn’t surprised me if we failed again in the postseason and they offered something like Hartenstein, Topic, Deing and 6 firsts and we took it.
Then they’ve got
SGA Caruso JDub Chet Joel
Wallace Dort Wiggins Jaylin …
Goodluck beating that side for the next few years.
Insane defensively inside and out, everyone can shoot, Shai would be a top 5 player, Chet and Joel both top 15 maybe. Plus they’d still have the depth and future draft picks.
Forget about the Nuggets they’d have Joel and Chet to throw at Jokic while Christian Braun ain’t stopping SGA. Boston, they are cool but with KP on Chet, Al Horford about 40 he ain’t taking Joel anymore. Tatum and Brown on the wings yeah but they have Caruso, Dort and JDub with Embiid covering the paint.
They could be the next dynasty if they play their cards right and Hartenstein is a vital piece of the puzzle.
The Neys could actually have a sneaky tough team next season. I mean, they aren’t going to contend by any means, but with Cam Thomas, DSJ, Schroeder, Simmons, Cam Johnson, Bojan Bogdanovic, DFS, Claxton, and Sharpe that’s not a bad 9-man rotation.
Of course, they have their fair share of holes on their roster, but they’re going to be a tough battle each game if their shots are falling.
The biggest problem in nba is that older star players have huge bigger overpaid than young stars
It has nothing to do with their age, at least not directly. It has to do with the market. Older star players are more likely to reach free agency than their younger counterparts, and with free agency being so thin these days it’s not surprising to see them overpaid by teams chasing that one final piece to put them over the top. Don’t really see anything wrong with that. And what would be the alternative, anyway? It’s basic supply and demand.
Nets are in good position to rebuild. I’m sure they will trade Johnson. I would trade Cam too.
Knicks sign Wiseman, please.
Thunder made a great move. Filled their biggest need. With a solid piece at C. But also a good guy. Good for Hartenstein. Thunder have to be favored now …….. no
I’m having mixed feelings about NY letting IHART goto OKC. I was hoping the Knicks got rid of Randle and kept both IHART and Precious. I’m happy for IHART that would have been a lot of money to pass up. Maybe IHART is more country than city. If the Knicks unloaded Randle could they have increased their offer? I didn’t know if it was 4/72 no matter who they unloaded. Still a great Off-season for NY let’s hope they don’t have too include Deuce in the deal. If that’s the case can the Knicks get back a pick or two?
4/72 no matter what. They only held his early bird rights and are over the cap
OKC will be must watch TV. They will hold some teams down to low scores.