LAS VEGAS — Isaiah Hartenstein would have re-signed with the Knicks at a discount if he had received a big offer from a team other than the Thunder, the center told The Post.
But the combination of a three-year, $87 million contract (with $58.5 million guaranteed in the first two years) and a chance to win a championship was too hard to turn down.
“I was definitely going to have stability for the rest of my life,” Hartenstein said, “but at the same time, if it wasn’t a team like Oklahoma City, I wouldn’t have minded taking a pay cut because I loved New York. But now I had the opportunity to make that money, get a pay raise and still be competing. I think that was a major factor.”
As Hartenstein acknowledged in an interview with The Washington Post on Monday, the Knicks offered the maximum amount, given cap restrictions, of $72.5 million over four years, about $11 million per year less than his contract with the Thunder.
Jalen Brunson was involved in negotiations to retain Hartenstein.
“They said we’d offer whatever we could,” Hartenstein said. “I’ve spoken with Jalen a few times, and he and my teammates really wanted me to come back and I really appreciate it, but it was definitely a tough decision. I couldn’t turn down an opportunity like this.”
A few weeks after Hartenstein left the team in free agency, Brunson agreed to a heavily discounted contract extension worth four years and $156.5 million that he could have made about $113 million more over five years if he had waited until free agency next summer.
Hartenstein, who spent the better part of six professional seasons as a journeyman and made just $22.65 million in career earnings, explained why he wasn’t in a position to make the sacrifices Brunson did.
“He’s in a little bit of a different situation than me. He’s made $100 million already (in his career). He’s a star player and he knows he’s probably not going to get traded, so it’s a different situation,” Hartenstein said. “But it also shows that he’s a leader that’s willing to make those sacrifices. I don’t think a lot of people make those sacrifices. I think our situations are a little bit different, but I have a lot of respect for him as a player and as a person for doing it.”
Hartenstein played a key role in the Knicks’ success and developed into the team’s top analyst.
He played in 49 games following an injury to Mitchell Robinson and had a team-best net rating of +10 last season, earning more playmaking freedom from Tom Thibodeau.
Looking back on his two seasons in New York, Hartenstein said his favorite moment was grabbing the offensive rebound that led to Donte DiVincenzo’s dramatic, game-winning 3-pointer in Game 2 of the first round against the Sixers.
The reaction from the Garden crowd was explosive.
“That was something special,” Hartenstein said.
The Knicks have yet to find a replacement for Hartenstein, who was arguably the second-best player in the playoffs behind Brunson.
Assuming the oft-injured Robinson starts at center again, his current backup is Jericho Sims.
This is the biggest concern for the Knicks as they try to get a chance to win seriously.
Hartenstein will also be stepping into unknown waters as a center on a team that was well-established and strengthened prior to his arrival.
His chemistry and chemistry with Thunder center Chet Holmgren will be crucial to the team’s championship aspirations after the team earned the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference last season.
In New York, Hartenstein developed into a well-liked and outgoing presence in the locker room, a defensive leader and one of the team’s best players in the paint. It was too good to leave.
largely.
“It was tough. I don’t think I would have left if it wasn’t a situation like Oklahoma City where we had a chance to win. But the money … think about it, I just had a baby. … But it was really tough,” said Hartenstein, who became a father for the first time last month.
“I love New York. I love the front office. I love the team. So it was really tough. I probably wouldn’t have left if I didn’t feel like we had a real chance to win.”
