Wherefore aren’t thou a Knick, Isaiah Hartenstein?
Losing the multi-talented center sucks. But why, exactly? And what can the Knicks do in response?
Isaiah Hartenstein? Hardly knew him. He’s gone, he’s gone/Oh I, Oh I/I’d pay the devil to replace him/We all better learn how to face it. The once underrated and undervalued center of the Houston Rockets, Cleveland Cavaliers and Los Angeles Clippers secured himself a massive 3-year, $87 million contract from the Oklahoma City Thunder. The New York Knicks’ greatest advantage of 48 minutes of excellent center play that didn’t cost an arm and a leg appears to have come to an end — a devastating blow, especially considering Mitchell Robinson’s durability concerns moving forward.
If you’re just looking at the surface numbers — per game averages of 7.8 points, 8.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists on 64.4% shooting — it might sound weird to say Hartenstein had a “breakout season.” But I think we’ve grown as fans to where we can recognize that center play is more than basic box score statistics. I want to discuss some key metrics that hopefully capture how valuable Hartenstein is as a player. First up: deflections and loose balls recovered.
Hartenstein averaged just over 2.8 deflection per 40 minutes his two seasons with the Knicks, better than Mitchell Robinson, Anthony Davis, Rudy Gobert, Joel Embiid and Evan Mobley, all big men known for their defensive prowess. This might not seem like a large number relative to wing players, but if the anchor of your defense can also get his hands in the passing lanes at a level nearing that of 2022 Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Smart, a guard, I think you’re doing something right.
Next up: rebounding. This is arguably the most important skill a Knicks big man needs to have. They must be able and willing to box out and get rebounds.
Mitchell Robinson clears the entire NBA because he’s the best of the best when it comes to rebounds, especially offensive. But Hartenstein is no slouch. He’s down in the paint boxing out and securing rebounds with the best of them. If you’re wondering why both Knick centers don’t have a better team rebounding percentage when they box out, like the guys in the bottom-center-right (Anthony Davis; Nikola Jokić; Julius Randle; Precious Achiuwa), that’s because of the focus on the offensive boards, leading to lower overall team rebounding percentages. Last season Hartenstein ranked second in the league in offensive rebounding percentage (14.4%), behind only Clint Capella (18.7%), per Basketball Reference. Fun fact: if Mitchell Robinson qualified, he would have been first for the second year in a row, at a staggering 20.7%.
Last and certainly not least, I want to take a look at playmaking. Having on-ball skills as a center has never been more important than it is today. The elite teams are still playing and striving for a “5-out” style of basketball where everyone can make open shots. But if your center is not a guy who can shoot a three-pointer or an elbow jumper, they better be able to do other things with the ball in their hands. This aspect of Hartenstein’s game is what the Knicks are going to miss the most. Let’s look at the plot capturing both screen assists and good ol’ fashioned assists.
He obviously isn’t Jokić or Domantas Sabonis, but Hartenstein is in a group of centers who are overall still pretty damn good: AD, Jarrett Allen and Bam Adebayo. Between his screening and passing, Hartenstein averaged just under nine baskets created for his teammates. That’s going to be extremely difficult to replace, as these are not strengths in Robinson’s game.
This is the conundrum the Knicks face with the Hartenstein departure. When Mitch was not playing, there was only a marginal dropoff in defense and rebounding, while the offense got a significant boost having a center who can create with the ball in his hands. Who’s going to be that “5-out” center now?
Randle certainly provides the offense and rebounding, but the defense, specifically rim protection, takes a hit. Achuiwa showed signs of potentially filling the defense and rebounding void (go back and look at his deflections and loose ball recoveries), but on offense he’s much closer to Robinson than Hartenstein. Achiuwa is also an unrestricted free agent, one with interest from the Knicks and several other teams.
I wish I had the answers to this. Maybe the Cavaliers, ready to clear the center position for Mobley, are willing to trade Jarrett Allen? He’s probably the best Isaiah Hartenstein approximation, maybe better. Maybe the Knicks can get access to that extra second apron money and sign Mo Wagner away from the Magic? (Ed. note: Orlando re-signed Wagner to a two-year deal) Is Walker Kessler available now that Utah got its Mormon center in Kyle Filipowski, and the Knicks just go all-in on rebounding, defense and limited center on-ball skills? Is Precious the answer in plain sight?
Honestly, I have no clue. The silver lining in all of this is that the Knicks do still have Mitchell Robinson (if he gets hurt again, then we have problems) and Julius Randle is returning. That may actually be closer to a bronze lining. Right now, at this moment in space and time, losing Isaiah Hartenstein is certainly a blow. There’s no way around this. All we can really do now is hope for the best and wait to see if his loss has significant consequences on the court next season.
