Isaiah Hartenstein cashes with Oklahoma City, is he worth it?

Isaiah Hartenstein was one of the hottest commodities heading into NBA free agency, and the Oklahoma City Thunder paid him like it. They signed him to a three-year agreement worth $87 million, according to ESPN. We’ll take a closer look at one of the biggest deals of the summer from Hartenstein’s standpoint and from Oklahoma City’s. All statistics are sourced from Basketball Reference.

Hartenstein was the premier center available in this year’s free agent class, and the Thunder wasted no time locking him up. Bleacher Report pointed out that Hartenstein is actually set to make more money than former star teammate Jalen Brunson with the New York Knicks. Considering where Hartenstein was just a couple of seasons ago, it’s a huge win for him.

Sports Illustrated wrote about the prevailing narrative with the Thunder in June, which spoke to their need to sure up the center position. They were served well by upgrading the position via the Hartenstein signing. However, it stands to reason that Chet Holmgren might close games at center in certain matchups, which downgrades the deal for the Thunder slightly.

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Hartenstein was signed to a two-year, $16 million deal with the New York Knicks in 2022. The dollar value accurately suggests that he was brought in as a depth piece to spell starting center Mitchell Robinson. However, Hartenstein claimed the starting role in 2023-2024 and never looked back. SNY wrote that Hartenstein deserved consideration for the NBA All-Defensive Team.

It might be hard for some fans to fathom how a player that averaged eight points and eight rebounds a game could warrant an $89 million contract. In addition to Hartenstein’s rise as an exceptional defensive center, he was also a skilled passer from the top of the key. The Oklahoman wrote that he is a “plus, plus passer” for this position.

By all accounts, the Knicks wanted to keep Hartenstein around as an important piece to their puzzle. Like Oklahoma City, New York is an emerging title contender, and saw Hartenstein’s improvement firsthand. According to Bleacher Report, the most the Knicks could offer him was $72.5 million over four years, which the Thunder blew out of the water.

It’s difficult to imagine a scenario other than Hartenstein starting at center on opening night for the Thunder, given the amount of money they’ve invested in him. The Hartenstein-Holmgren tandem should match up really well with teams like the Minnesota Timberwolves. It’ll be interesting to see if there’s any learning curve with Hartenstein and his new teammates.

CBS Sports took an even-deeper dive into the things Hartenstein does well, and how it could help the Thunder. They wrote that he isn’t one to stand around on offense. “He’s always reading the play, moving around and making himself available… it’s how Hartenstein gets a lot of his dunks and floaters.”

Hartenstein appeared on a podcast hosted by Brunson and former New York teammate Josh Hart, where he spoke about his ethnic background. He spoke about his German-American father, who is black. Despite the ties to Germany, Hartenstein told Basket News in January that he didn’t think their national team would invite him to play in the Olympics.

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Hart was sad to see Hartenstein leave the Knicks, even if his words on social media reflected otherwise. After the Thunder deal was confirmed, Hart wrote “You are dead to me Zay. I never liked you anyways. But congrats on the bag!”