The Knicks’ dream of retaining Isaiah Hartenstein is over.
Per Woj, the Oklahoma City Thunder have agreed with Hartenstein on a three-year, $87 million deal, which cannot be officially signed until the free agency ‘legal tampering’ moratorium lifts on July 6.
That deal is one less year but about $15 million more than the maximum four-year, $72.5 million deal the Knicks could offer Hartenstein, and will allow him to re-enter free agency at age 29.
Hartenstein, who just turned 26, was a second-round pick of the Rocker in 2016 and bounced around the league before finding a home in New York, where he signed a two-year, $16 million contract in July 2022 and played 157 of 164 possible games in two seasons.
I-Hart averaged 6.3 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 1.8 assists in New York and became a fan favorite, and was especially potent in the playoffs for a depleted Knicks squad, averaging 10.3-6.5-2.7 in the first round win over Philly and then 6.9-9.0-4.3 in the series loss to Indiana.
The Knicks had hoped to retain Hartenstein with that maximum allowable deal, but instead, he is off to OKC to join the team that had the best record in the West last season and also suffered an early exit, bowing to the Mavericks in six games in the Western Conference semifinals.