The New York Knicks will be one of the NBA teams to look out for this upcoming season for revamping their roster. However, the one position they don’t have enough depth for is the center position following the departure of Isaiah Hartenstein to the Oklahoma City Thunder for a three-year, $87 million deal.
Hartenstein was vital for the New York Knicks last season, as he stepped up in the absences of Mitchell Robinson and Julius Randle. After averaging 7.8 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 2.5 assists on 64.4 percent shooting in 75 regular season games (49 starts), he took things up a notch in the postseason, with norms of 8.5 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 3.5 assists per game.
Because of his superb performances, his value increased on the market, and the New York Knicks were left with no choice but to let him go in free agency, especially after they gave OG Anunoby a max-level contract and completed the trade for Mikal Bridges.
The New York Knicks tried to compensate by re-signing Precious Achiuwa to a one-year deal. The team has Mitchell Robinson, Precious Achiuwa, and Jericho Sims as their listed centers in the depth chart.
Tom Thibodeau on how he’ll handle the New York Knicks’ center position
New York Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau knows the challenge of compensating for the loss of Isaiah Hartenstein will be difficult. Speaking with Steve Aschburner of NBA.com, the two-time NBA Coach of the Year awardee said he will need all hands on deck.
“We went through that last year. We started the season where Mitchell was the starter and he was off to a monster start,” Thibodeau explained. “When he went out, Jericho Sims started initially, then he got hurt. Then Isaiah came in and did what he did. But when he got hurt, Precious (Achiuwa) came in along with Taj Gibson. So we rotated guys at that position the entire year.”
“We’ll probably have to do it by committee. We could see Julius more at the 5. I think he can do it well. He also would create a lot of (offensive) advantages,” he added.
