It wasn’t a decision. It was more like a no-brainer.
During Isaiah Hartenstein’s foray into free agency, the Knicks quickly emerged as his preferred destination, once he spoke to coach Tom Thibodeau and the front office.
“I think it was a spot where I felt wanted,” the 7-footer said on Tuesday in his first public comments since joining the Knicks during the summer. “That was a big thing coming into it. Finding a place where first of all, I can bring something. I felt like I can bring something that they didn’t have, to help them win.”
Hartenstein, signed to a two-year, $16 million contract, provides a different dimension to the roster, a play-making big man capable of stretching the opposing defenses with his 3-point shot. In Thibodeau’s two years as the Knicks’ coach, they relied on more traditional big men Mitchell Robinson and Nerlens Noel.
Like Robinson, Hartenstein is a strong paint defender — he blocked 3.1 shots per 100 possessions last season, which ranked as the ninth-highest figure in the NBA — but he presents a vastly different skill-set on offense. Hartenstein is coming off a breakout season in which he averaged 8.3 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.4 assists, while shooting 46.7 percent from 3-point range in 17.9 minutes per game for the Clippers.
“What a lot of people don’t get, it’s not like I’m learning how to shoot. Before coming into the NBA, it was more of [playing the] four, shooting,” he said. “In Houston, I played my role. It wasn’t to shoot, it was pick-and-roll. When I was in the G-League, I hit eight 3s in one game, so it’s not like I’m learning how to shoot the ball. I think that’s one thing that me and Thibs talked about, helping spread the floor.”
It took a while for Hartenstein to carve out a niche for himself in the NBA. A second-round pick of the Rockets in 2017, who spent most of his childhood in Germany, he played parts of three seasons in the G-League and was the G-League Finals MVP in 2019. The Knicks will be his fifth different franchise.
With the Nuggets, he didn’t get much of an opportunity, but he learned a lot playing with former MVP Nikola Jokic. One of the best passing big men in the league, Jokic imparted wisdom to Hartenstein about reading defenders and not being afraid of making mistakes.
“He just taught me there’s certain aspects where you look more at the defender. Sometimes I can get the pass through it because the defender is not looking at [the ball],” he said. “Just looking people off with my eyes.”
Hartenstein said his experience in Denver was invaluable. So was his time in Houston, playing with veterans Chris Paul, James Harden and Clint Capela, and on the Clippers, with which he forced his way into coach Tyronn Lue’s rotation by improving his defense. He became a film buff, studying different players to add new things to his game, and not allowing setbacks to sidetrack him. Now he has a real opportunity to make a name for himself with the Knicks.
“It helped me,” Hartenstein said of his previous stops, “be ready for this.”