Cleveland Cavaliers: Early impressions of Isaiah Hartenstein

#2: The new Cavs big has shown some game that extends beyond the paint

Hartenstein has already connected on two-for-four of his attempts from beyond the three-point line. That’s an interesting development considering that prior to joining the Cavs he hadn’t attempted one all season long.

That’s not to say that he’ll turn into the next Nikola Vucevic or Karl-Anthony Towns as he is a career 26.7 percent shooter from range at the NBA level, but the mere fact that he’s willing to take those shots is a positive. That’s especially the case for a team that gets very little in terms of spacing, in the perimeter viability sense (as opposed to vertical spacing from Allen) from it’s center position.

With a roster full of young and eager players ready to see some meaningful game action, Hartenstein has got to add to his offensive arsenal if he’s to continue to receive rotation minutes when the Cleveland Cavaliers return to full strength whenever that may be.

And with so many mouths to feed at the power forward and center positions respectively (Love, Allen, Nance Jr., Wade, Prince and two-way guy Lamar Stevens in smaller lineups, and now Hartenstein) he must find ways to set himself apart from the suddenly “crowded” frontcourt.

If Hartenstein can take and convert enough of his attempts to keep the defense honest then he will render himself a must play option off the bench and he could seemingly catapult himself into Cleveland’s future moving forward.

And lastly, the rebounding/defensive element has been another positive development in regards to what we’ve seen initially from Hartenstein.