Let’s make this clear: Isaiah Hartenstein isn’t a sharpshooter…yet. For his career, Hartenstein has shot 38.3% on 3-pointers. Last season, he shot 46.7%. This was on a small sample size but it is still exciting to think about what it could potentially become down the line.
He took just 30 three-pointers last season. The seven-foot lefty has nice coordination and balance on his jump shot and it could potentially turn into a more consistent weapon. Again — this is a small sample size. But it’s a sample size of someone like Mitch or Dwight Howard. Hartenstein has the ability to shoot in an NBA game, he just needs to find ways to do it at a more consistent level.
There have been a few times where we’ve seen either Julius Randle or Obi Toppin play at the five. Those moments haven’t happened very often. Having a center who can play along the perimeter and be an extra kick-out option is yet another new wrinkle to the offense that Hartenstein can bring to the Knicks.
There seems to be more and more pressure for NBA centers to have some sort of ability to shoot the ball. Oftentimes, centers won’t even become regular shooters until their late twenties. The 24-year-old Hartenstein still has time to grow as a perimeter player. Some other stats indicate he has another level he could get to.
New York Knicks</a> have brought in reinforcements for next season, one of which is 24-year-old big man Isaiah Hartenstein. A second-round pick from the 2018 draft, Hartenstein only started to get significant playing time last season with the Los Angeles Clippers. Now, he’s looking to have a consistent role with the Knicks.</p>
<p>With New York also re-signing starting center Mitchell Robinson, Hartenstein seems to be locked in as the backup center. While he’s coming in to play somewhat of a minimal role, Hartenstein was an absolutely necessary signing with the Knicks getting rid of last year’s backup centers Taj Gibson and Nerlens Noel.</p>
<p>They locked up Hartenstein for the next two seasons, and there are some elements to his game that Knicks fans haven’t seen from their big men in recent years. It could make for a fun new piece of the puzzle.</p>
<h2>3 Isaiah Hartenstein stats that Knicks fans will enjoy</h2>
<h3>Stat No. 1: Isaiah Hartenstein’s Passing</h3>
<p>If there’s something we haven’t seen from Knicks centers, it’s any sort of passing ability. Centers who are creative passers are few and far between in the NBA, but the Knicks, more than other teams, haven’t had centers who can put the ball on the floor. Seven-foot Hartenstein averaged 2.4 assists in 17.9 minutes per game this past season.</p>
<p>His limited minutes certainly limited his total assists compared to other NBA starting centers. Overall Hartenstein ranked 18th among centers in the NBA <a href=https://dailyknicks.com/2022/08/01/3-isaiah-hartenstein-stats-knicks-fans-love/2/"https://www.nba.com/stats/players/passing/?Season=2021-22&SeasonType=Regular%20Season&sort=AST&dir=1&PlayerPosition=C%22 target="_blank" rel="noopener">in assists per game</a>. Of those 18, he averaged the fewest minutes. The only other player among those 18 who averaged fewer than 20 minutes per game was Kelly Olynyk.</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Terance Mann with the backdoor slam 💪</p>
<p>Hartenstein provides, Mann powers it home to extend the <a href=https://dailyknicks.com/2022/08/01/3-isaiah-hartenstein-stats-knicks-fans-love/2/"https://twitter.com/LAClippers?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%22>@LAClippers fourth-quarter lead on NBA League Pass: <a href=https://dailyknicks.com/2022/08/01/3-isaiah-hartenstein-stats-knicks-fans-love/2/"https://t.co/V0kkYEEIkG">https://t.co/V0kkYEEIkG <a href=https://dailyknicks.com/2022/08/01/3-isaiah-hartenstein-stats-knicks-fans-love/2/"https://t.co/SDPJS7GA0R">pic.twitter.com/SDPJS7GA0R
<p>— NBA (@NBA) <a href=https://dailyknicks.com/2022/08/01/3-isaiah-hartenstein-stats-knicks-fans-love/2/"https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1468815821757689858?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%22>December 9, 2021</a></p></blockquote>
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<p>It is exciting to envision Hartenstein playing alongside New York’s second unit of Obi Toppin, Immanuel Quickley, Quentin Grimes, and possibly Derrick Rose. When healthy and at their best, the team’s second unit has brought an exhilarating brand of fast-paced basketball.</p>
<p>Hartenstein has the capability to make some high-level passes to a cutting Obi Toppin, or to Immanuel Quickley coming off of a screen along the perimeter. He could <a href=https://dailyknicks.com/2022/08/01/3-isaiah-hartenstein-stats-knicks-fans-love/2/"https://dailyknicks.com/2022/07/03/3-knicks-players-benefit-isaiah-hartenstein-free-agency-signing/">give them all a boost</a>. His passing ability will be an added element to what the team can do on offense. And that’s not the only interesting part of his game.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #007BC1" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://dailyknicks.com/2022/08/01/3-isaiah-hartenstein-stats-knicks-fans-love/2/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Stat #2 </a>
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$16 million dollar contract over two years</a> shows the team’s interest in his potential. While he averaged just 17.9 minutes per game, Hartenstein had impressive <a href=https://dailyknicks.com/2022/08/01/3-isaiah-hartenstein-stats-knicks-fans-love/2/"https://basketball.realgm.com/player/Isaiah-Hartenstein/NBA/54263/Career/By_Split/Per_36/By_Month/Regular_Season" target="_blank" rel="noopener">per-36 minutes stats</a>:</p>
<ul>
<li>16.7 points per game</li>
<li>12.0 rebounds per game</li>
<li>5.0 assists per game</li>
<li>2.4 blocks per game</li>
<li>1.0 steals per game</li>
</ul>
<p>Those are impressive numbers across the board. Per-36 minutes stats should be taken with a grain of salt, but some of those numbers (the assists in particular) really stand out for a big man. Hartenstein had a handful of games in his last season where he was given increased playing time. He had fifteen games he recorded <a href=https://dailyknicks.com/2022/08/01/3-isaiah-hartenstein-stats-knicks-fans-love/2/"https://www.espn.com/nba/player/gamelog/_/id/4222252" target="_blank" rel="noopener">at least four assists</a>. He had seven games with two or more blocks. He did not play 30 minutes in a single game.</p>
<p>We know that Hartenstein will be playing a backup role, so while the team is healthy, he won’t be seeing heavy minutes. However, should a Knicks frontcourt player go down with an injury, it’s nice to know they will have Hartenstein waiting to play an increased role.</p>
<p>Although Mitchell Robinson’s durability often gets blown out of proportion (he played in 72 games last season and has only missed significant time in 1/2 seasons), he still typically misses 10-15 games a year. The Knicks won’t have to scrape together a medley of replacement centers and they’ll be counting on Hartenstein to step in with the starters when called upon.</p>
<p>It’s unclear what the New York Knicks have in Hartenstein, but we know they invested in him. He’s going to bring some fun new layers to the team’s frontcourt.</p>
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