For much of Isaiah Hartenstein‘s NBA career, it didn’t look like he had an $87MM contract in his future. That’s the amount the Thunder gave him in free agency following a breakthrough season in New York, but Hartenstein wasn’t always on a path to stardom. In an interview with Marc J. Spears of Andscape, he talks about trying to establish himself as an NBA center while playing for five teams in his first five seasons.
“At the moment I signed the contract (with Oklahoma City), it was special,” Hartenstein said. “Just grinding through the NBA. Going from the G League with the Rockets and being sent back down consistently kind of proving myself. It was never easy. It wasn’t like a relief, but it was an excitement. I didn’t feel like I could let off the gas. The hard work finally paid off even if it was a little longer than I thought it would take. I was excited yet motivated at the same time that I had proven myself.”
The Knicks were hoping to re-sign Hartenstein, Spears states, offering a four-year contract worth $72.5MM. However, that couldn’t compete with the offer from the Thunder, which included a $30MM starting salary that exceeds what he made in his previous six seasons combined.
“It was hard to leave. It wasn’t easy. I loved being out there and I loved my teammates,” Hartenstein said. “If I couldn’t go to a place like OKC, I don’t think I would have left. But you also have to think about it being a business at the end of the day. It wasn’t like I’ve had a whole bunch of $100 million contracts before this. I had to make sure my family was straight. It was a crazy experience going from minimum deals and a training camp deal with the Clippers. Going from that to this, it’s a good little journey. A lot of times you don’t get what you’re going through. But now looking back, I wouldn’t change a thing on and off the court.”
There’s more on the Thunder:
- Luguentz Dort has been playing with a “mallet finger” after injuring his right pinky during a scramble for a loose ball in a November 17 game, according to Joel Lorenzi of The Oklahoman. He’s been wearing a splint on the finger around the clock and has experimented with tapes and wraps to help ease the pain from tendon damage. “I’m doing this for the team,” he said. “That’s the confidence that this team has put in me from when I first started here, and that’s the approach that we had. Every time you healthy, you got to go out there and play. And that’s my mentality, that’s my approach. Especially when we having a great season, like we are right now, I just got to keep my foot on the pedal.”
- The Thunder are creating more three-point opportunities for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who’s taking a career-high 6.3 shots per game from beyond the arc this season, Lorenzi notes in a separate story. Thursday at Toronto, SGA attempted six three-pointers in the first quarter and was two short of his career-high of 12 when he was removed from the game in the third quarter because OKC had a huge lead. “It’s very fun,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “Like, the process of getting better and adding something is the best feeling for me. … When it’s all said and done, I want to be a basketball player with no holes in my game.”
- Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca examines Gilgeous-Alexander’s chances to be named MVP after finishing fifth and second in the voting the past two seasons.
SGA is MVP of getting 10+ FTAs a game from soft as butter fouls the refs he paid off give him. OKC is stacked, why would they have a MVP? SGA could be lost for the year and they’d still be top 4.
SGA averages 8.0 FTA per game, not at all unheard of for a guy that slithers into the paint on the majority of possessions. OKC would be lucky to make the play-in without SGA. This team isn’t stacked. You have SGA, Williams and Holmgren when he gets back surrounded by a bunch of good roleplayers. I love Jaylen Williams’s game but there’s no way they’d be top four with him leading the way. Shai makes everyone better. His drives collapse the defense and while he doesn’t always get the assist his outlet passes lead to the other guys getting buckets. Jokìc would still be my MVP pick thus far and by wide margin but It would be a hard choice for me between Shai, Tatum and Doncìc for the next three spots.
“Mallet finger” was also used as descriptor for Dort’s shooting on opposing teams scouting reports
Dort’s shooting percentage is skewed by the fact the fact that he doesn’t take that many shots and the majority of those he does take is from deep. He hasn’t been shooting well the last couple games but overall he’s been solid from 3pt range the last couple seasons.