I’ll say this – I was listening to Barkley on Simmons’s podcast and he was gushing about OKCs offseason (Hartenstein and Caruso). And I was thinking that adding two glue guys in the offseason is just so fucking sweet for them. No egos. Maximum effort. High energy. But our whole roster is guys like that so I’m not worried.
kikikza
I think this is gonna hit us a bit harder than people are talking about, but I still feel good going into the season. If we don’t find a good guy to be center with Mitch or if Sims doesn’t contend for MIP this year then we won’t be contenders once the playoffs start
det8924
I love I-Hart as much as the next Knicks fan, but I-Hart went from being massively underrated to being kind of overrated. I think I-Hart is a very good rebounder and defensive center, and he can do some stuff offensively like finish around the rim. He’s a solid starter but fantastic as a center splitting time.
He isn’t a 29 million dollar a year player, OKC overpaid to take advantage of the remaining window before Chet and their other younger players remaining rookie deal years so they were willing to overpay to add I-Hart who fills a need for them.
But I would argue that Mitch is as good or better of a starting center. Mitch is a better defender and rebounder by a significant margin. Mitch was a DOPY contender before his injury this past season and at points in the past two seasons Mitch was out offensive rebounding entire teams. Even in the playoffs Mitch was the one who was called upon to lockdown Embiid round 1. I think I-Hart does do more offensively. All Mitch does offensively besides rebound is finish dunks in transition or around the rim for the most part. I-Hart is a solid passer for a big and has more of a post game father away from the basket so he offers more on that end.
The Knicks losing I-Hart is a loss. But the Knicks still have the assets to find a quality backup big. Heck if Kolek plays really well then the Knicks could look to trade Deuce for Kessler to really solidify that role (Although I don’t think that’s likely). Overall the Knicks are well run, they are set up to work around this possible issue if needed.
WellsJaha
The main things were are going to be missing from Hartenstein that Mitchell Robinson doesn’t provide is his passing and that baby hook of his.
It will be Interesting to see if Randle can make up for what we will be missing in Hartenstein, as we know Randle is an elite passer for his position.
Most of Hartenstein’s best play came after Randle went down with injury so we’ll see if Randle can provide what we lack with Hartenstein while Mitch can just focus on being the defensive and rebounding monster that he is
ChaosIceKing
I feel like it’s gonna affect the offense a bit. I-Hart made the offense much better because he was so dynamic in PnR, Pick n Floater, and also a good passer for a big man. There was also not a huge drop off when he came in for Mitch on the defensive end either. I wish him luck but it doesn’t matter anymore we just need to move on with the pieces we have… With that being said, I totally believe the Knicks are gonna ride Mitch/Achiuwa/whoever at C until the trade deadline mid-season and then get our target.
5 Comments
I’ll say this – I was listening to Barkley on Simmons’s podcast and he was gushing about OKCs offseason (Hartenstein and Caruso). And I was thinking that adding two glue guys in the offseason is just so fucking sweet for them. No egos. Maximum effort. High energy. But our whole roster is guys like that so I’m not worried.
I think this is gonna hit us a bit harder than people are talking about, but I still feel good going into the season. If we don’t find a good guy to be center with Mitch or if Sims doesn’t contend for MIP this year then we won’t be contenders once the playoffs start
I love I-Hart as much as the next Knicks fan, but I-Hart went from being massively underrated to being kind of overrated. I think I-Hart is a very good rebounder and defensive center, and he can do some stuff offensively like finish around the rim. He’s a solid starter but fantastic as a center splitting time.
He isn’t a 29 million dollar a year player, OKC overpaid to take advantage of the remaining window before Chet and their other younger players remaining rookie deal years so they were willing to overpay to add I-Hart who fills a need for them.
But I would argue that Mitch is as good or better of a starting center. Mitch is a better defender and rebounder by a significant margin. Mitch was a DOPY contender before his injury this past season and at points in the past two seasons Mitch was out offensive rebounding entire teams. Even in the playoffs Mitch was the one who was called upon to lockdown Embiid round 1. I think I-Hart does do more offensively. All Mitch does offensively besides rebound is finish dunks in transition or around the rim for the most part. I-Hart is a solid passer for a big and has more of a post game father away from the basket so he offers more on that end.
The Knicks losing I-Hart is a loss. But the Knicks still have the assets to find a quality backup big. Heck if Kolek plays really well then the Knicks could look to trade Deuce for Kessler to really solidify that role (Although I don’t think that’s likely). Overall the Knicks are well run, they are set up to work around this possible issue if needed.
The main things were are going to be missing from Hartenstein that Mitchell Robinson doesn’t provide is his passing and that baby hook of his.
It will be Interesting to see if Randle can make up for what we will be missing in Hartenstein, as we know Randle is an elite passer for his position.
Most of Hartenstein’s best play came after Randle went down with injury so we’ll see if Randle can provide what we lack with Hartenstein while Mitch can just focus on being the defensive and rebounding monster that he is
I feel like it’s gonna affect the offense a bit. I-Hart made the offense much better because he was so dynamic in PnR, Pick n Floater, and also a good passer for a big man. There was also not a huge drop off when he came in for Mitch on the defensive end either. I wish him luck but it doesn’t matter anymore we just need to move on with the pieces we have… With that being said, I totally believe the Knicks are gonna ride Mitch/Achiuwa/whoever at C until the trade deadline mid-season and then get our target.