NBA
Knicks Center Meeting with Thunder
The New York Knicks and the rest of the NBA are now able to negotiate with free agents that aren’t on their roster, and one team is looking to take advantage of that.
According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, the Oklahoma City Thunder are meeting with breakout center Isaiah Hartenstein in Eugene, Oregon to talk about potentially signing with them.
Hartenstein, 26, could sign a deal near $20 million per year, which is a price the Knicks cannot match. New York can offer a four-year, $72 million at best for Hartenstein, but it’s unlikely that the team would look to even get to that level without making a move instead of that.
The Knicks have already spent a lot this offseason by trading for Mikal Bridges from the Brooklyn Nets and signing OG Anunoby to a five-year, $212.5 million deal. With those transactions taking place, the Knicks are hard-capped, and they are looking to make moves to get off that.
This doesn’t mean Hartenstein is already gone, but the Knicks have to make moves if they want to retain him. Knowing that the Thunder are already meeting with Hartenstein, time is running out on the Knicks if they really want to try and make a move to bring him back.