Money talks, and the Knicks didn’t have enough of it.
Isaiah Hartenstein agreed to a three-year, $87 million contract with the OKC Thunder on Monday morning, according to multiple sources, giving the Knicks the center hole they need to fill in order to make a run at the bottom of the remaining free agents.
The Knicks made a big push to re-sign their starting center immediately after the NBA Finals, offering him a maximum deal of four years and $72.5 million.
Sources told the Post that the offer remained on the table until Hartenstein agreed to a balloon offer from the Thunder, which was paid up front and included a non-guaranteed third year.
Hartenstein is expected to make around $30 million next season, but the Knicks could start him off with just over $16 million in the first year of his new contract.
Multiple sources said Hartenstein wanted to return to the Knicks, but a variety of factors made Oklahoma City’s offer too difficult to turn down.
First, the Thunder are bona fide favorites after winning 57 games last season, though Hartenstein’s chances of getting a starting spot may not be guaranteed with Chet Holmgren under center. Oklahoma City’s biggest issue has been rebounding, and Hartenstein’s strength in the paint could help alleviate that issue.
Second, money doesn’t just mean a salary, it also means living expenses and taxes for a new father who spent much of his NBA career on a relatively low-paying, non-guaranteed contract.
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According to Spotrac, Hartenstein has earned $22.65 million since 2018, and he’ll easily surpass that in the first year of his new contract.
The Knicks limited their offer because they are under the luxury tax and have no cap space, and their only way to re-sign Hartenstein was to use his Early Bird rights, which the market deemed simply not good enough.
After Nic Claxton re-signed with the Nets, Hartenstein became the No. 1 center on the market, and as the Post reported, Oklahoma City, a historically tough spot for free agents, was considered the “biggest threat” to snatch Hartenstein.
Thunder executives then made the 26-year-old Hartenstein a priority, traveling to Eugene, Oregon, where Hartenstein was born and still has family, to meet with him at the start of free agency Sunday.
So what about the Knicks? They have an obvious replacement in starting center Mitchell Robinson, but his biggest weakness is his health. Robinson has missed a combined 74 games over the past two seasons and is just returning from ankle surgery.
When they do play, they average just 25 minutes a game.
As the Post first reported, they recently picked up the contract option for Jericho Sims, who is raw but has great athletic and defensive potential, and Tom Thibodeau has started Sims in 27 games over the past two seasons.
They still own the Bird Rights to Precious Achiuwa, who is likely a power forward but showed talent as a center last season when inserted due to injury.
Center depth is the only glaring flaw in the Knicks’ roster construction: They used one of their draft picks last week on a center, taking 7-foot-1 German prospect Ariel Hukporti with the 58th pick.
The free-agent market for centers is pretty narrow, meaning if the Knicks stay below the second apron, they’ll only have the taxpayer mid-level exception (roughly a $5 million starting salary) and a minimum contract thereafter available.
Players like Philadelphia’s Mo Bamba and Orlando’s Goga Bizzade were still available as of Monday morning, and Charlotte’s Nick Richards could be trade target.
Others who signed with other teams as free agents included Jonas Valanciunas, Andre Drummond, Drew Eubanks, Alex Len, Mason Plumlee, Luke Garza and Richaun Holmes.
Losing Hartenstein was inevitable after all, and he learned a lesson in development from Thibodeau, who acquired underrated centers (Nerlens Noel, Joakim Noah, Taj Gibson, Robinson, Hartenstein) and paid them all top dollar.
But Hartenstein was more than just Thibodeau’s latest center success. He’s a great fit for the Knicks right now, a physical paint protector with an expanding role on offense whose impact on winning is backed up by analytics.
It will be very difficult to replace Hartenstein.
