The Knicks may be only minutes away from learning the future of Isaiah Hartenstein. I reported earlier this week, via league sources, that the team had grown more pessimistic about its chances of holding onto its starting center. New York is capped at how much it can pay Hartenstein, unable to offer more than $72.5 million over four years, and some of that must be in incentives. But the Knicks get the sense Hartenstein will have other offers that top that, either in total dollars or in per-year value — if not both.
If Hartenstein walks, New York can turn its attention to other centers on the free-agent market, such as Jonas Valančiūnas or Goga Bitadze.
I don’t expect the Knicks to execute the Mikal Bridges trade as it’s currently constructed, which would hard-cap them at the first apron. If they can find a way to get hard capped at the second apron instead, and I believe that’s what will happen, they have some wiggle room to acquire another rotation player.
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Courtesy : https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/live-blogs/nba-free-agency-live-tracker-updates-deals/4V28798D4yCU/