Knicks Targeting Veteran Center As Isaiah Hartenstein Replacement

The New York Knicks are rolling deeper into the offseason without a replacement for former bench-turned-starting big man Isaiah Hartenstein after his free-agent exit, but there is a possibility that they haven’t fully exhausted all their potential options. 

Following the center’s departure for Oklahoma City and a three-year, $87 million contract in early July, the Knicks have been pulling out every card imaginable to replace Hartenstein. From scouring the market for mid-level players to become the backup to picking up the phone and making calls to rival franchises with pieces on the trade block, Leon Rose has been doing his thing behind the scenes. However, he has yet to lure a strong suitor to fill the void left by the team’s seventh-highest scorer and second-best rebounder. 

In recent weeks, the Knicks have been landing deals with other in-house position players like Jalen Brunson and OG Anunoby and outsiders such as guard Cameron Payne, who will keep the team’s core together long-term and add depth to the backcourt dominated by the Villanova brothers. However, the No. 2 center spot remains a gaping hole in the rotation as the summer drags on and it’s starting to appear less likely the Knicks find their guy via the open market. 

On Thursday, during his mailbag show on SNY, insider Ian Begley shed some light on one name that the Knicks have been pursuing. Speaking on recent reports that New York had been holding trade talks with teams bearing high-salaried veteran centers, Begley revealed the Atlanta Hawks big man Clint Capela as the highest-profile player on the shortlist. 

Knicks Rumors: New York Checked in on Clint Capela

“Clint Capela was one big that the Knicks checked in on,” Begley said on the Begley’s Mailbag show. “I don’t know how far talks went. I don’t know if they’re active at this very moment. But they did check in on Capela”.

Begley noted the likelihood that a conversation around Capela could have included Mitchell Robinson, who projects to be the Knicks starting center when the 2024 season opens up, to replace Capela’s starting presence on the Hawks’ five. It is unknown whether that factor was mentioned and deterred the Knicks from continuing the talks or whether they had the desire to pair the two players in the Mecca.

After losing Hartenstein last month, the Knicks are holding some real concerns about the state of their 5-spot heading into training camp in the fall. Robinson has struggled to stay on the court amid repetitive ankle injuries, including the one he suffered in the postseason that kept him to just six games during the team’s run through the Eastern Conference semifinals. The seven-foot center hasn’t appeared in more than 65 games in four of his six seasons with the Knicks, putting his reliability into question as the default starter next year. 

The only other big men signed to the roster are fourth-year pro Jericho Sims and Ariel Hukporti, the Knicks' second-round pick out of Germany. Sims, the team’s first-round pick in 2021, has struggled to establish a presence in Tom Thibodeau’s strict rotation, posting an average of 14 minutes and 2.6 points per game in just 32 starts. The rookie Hukporti will likely become a stash player as have many previous international draft choices that never touched the Garden floor.

Acquiring Capela from the Hawks would give the Knicks a lot of what they are missing from Hartenstein. In his 10 NBA seasons, the veteran has appeared in at least 63 games eight times and started in 546 of his 609 total games. He played in 73 games for Atlanta last season and averaged 25.8 minutes while scoring double-digit points for the ninth-straight campaign at 11.6 per contest. 

On the boards, Capela finished as the league’s ninth-best collector at 10.6 per game and brought a nice balance of offensive and defensive grabs to give the Hawks extra chances to facilitate their high-volume offense. His added size and strength is an element that the Knicks will enjoy to counter the lengthier build of Robinson and the inconsistent force of Sims in the paint. 

The only concerns the Knicks would have in this type of transaction would be the potential for losing Robinson and the increased payout to bring over Capela. Per Spotrac, the 30-year-old is on the second year of a $45.8 million deal that will carry a $22.26 million cap hit for the 2024-25 season. New York is paying Robinson about $14 million next year to be the No. 1 guy and would have his rights until the end of the 2025-26 season. 

Having to pay another big man a heftier salary should he produce on the one-year rental is likely not in the preferential area for the Knicks, who could only go as far as $17.5 million annually for Hartenstein due to his early bird rights.

Begley believes it’s a scenario that looks far-fetched at this stage of the offseason and that the Knicks will stay away from dealing any more critical assets. In some fashion, they will address the center position before the 2024 campaign begins and give the franchise insurance in the event injuries befall Robinson again. 

“I think the most likely outcome is the Knicks add a backup center and roll into training camp with this unit as is,” Begley said. There are still a couple of months here before training camp, so let’s see where it leads but Clint Capela and Atlanta was one name the Knicks checked in on and we’ll see where it goes.

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