Thunder’s Isaiah Hartenstein says it was hard to leave Knicks, he and Chet Holmgren can be ‘deadly’ together

After Isaiah Hartenstein signed his contract with the Oklahoma City Thunder (which will pay him $30 million next season and $28.5 million in 2025-26, with a $28.5 million team option in 2026-27) on Saturday, the 26-year-old big man said it was tough to leave the New York Knicks. Hartenstein had the best season of his career in New York, which set him up to sign a more lucrative deal than Leon Rose’s front office could have offered.

“If I’m honest, it was hard,” Hartenstein told reporters. “I mean, I love my teammates out in New York. I really appreciate what [coach Tom Thibodeau] and Leon did for me. The fans in New York showed a lot of love.”

Hartenstein spent most of his first media session in Oklahoma City, though, discussing all the reasons he’s happy to be there. From afar, he said, he has been a fan of the Thunder’s culture, coach and core players for some time. “The style of play, I think, really fits me,” he said, noting that he’s one of the league’s best passing bigs and “they have a lot of guys who cut.” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault’s process-oriented approach impressed Hartenstein, and the offense will give him a chance to show off his basketball IQ.

“I felt like I could really expand my game here,” Hartenstein said. “Just especially talking to Mark, how open-minded he is. So it’s really exciting for me, and then just defensively, I think I can still bring a lot to the team. I mean, I feel like they were really good last year, but then bringing [Alex] Caruso and myself in, I think we hope we’ll take another step in that.”

Hartenstein plans to keep working on his shot, get even more comfortable with the ball in his hands and continue improving as a defender, he told reporters. He said that he believes he can get “back to the shooting aspect” of his game with the Thunder, just like he reemphasized his previously dormant passing passing during his second season with the Knicks.

Asked about playing with big man Chet Holmgren, who almost exclusively played center last season, Hartenstein said that it would not be easy for…

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Author : James Herbert

Publish date : 2024-07-06 20:10:37

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