Cavs should re-sign Isaiah Hartenstein, provided he declines player option

He wouldn’t seem to cost too much, and would provide valuable depth for the Cavs

Secondly, Hartenstein, while I could absolutely foresee him declining his player option, I wouldn’t imagine would be costing Cleveland too much to re-sign.

He has shown he’s a solid rotational contributor in his stint with the Cavaliers so far, but Hartenstein hasn’t had much NBA burn prior to being dealt to the Wine and Gold; that was in 51 games with the Rockets in two seasons, for context.

He did have more of a role for Denver spelling Nikola Jokic some, albeit it wasn’t close to the burn he’s gotten with the Cavs when he’s been available.

Granted, with Hartenstein, when he’s had the burn, he’s been very productive, and between him and Allen, that’d be quite the center tandem to have for coming years.

Now, one would likely have to factor in Allen (potentially via matching a restricted offer sheet) and Collin Sexton’s extensions both seemingly set to come this offseason, in fairness, regarding the Cavaliers hopefully looking to re-sign Hartenstein, though.

But to me, I wouldn’t think it be costing Cleveland say more than $4-5 million for Hartenstein with some of the mid-level exception, perhaps, to bring him back for next season, and maybe the year following. Maybe a second season in that scenario could be a team option, even?

Or while I wouldn’t necessarily expect it with potential/upside weighed in, but maybe Hartenstein could be re-signed for say, a three-year, essentially minimum deal, with the last season non-guaranteed? That perhaps he’d be more interested in than the aforementioned player option from a security/familiarity standpoint?

In any case, I’d be a fan of the Cavaliers looking to bring back Hartenstein, who again is just 23, like Allen, and has shown he can affect games in a variety of ways in his burn. He may have some potential as a stretch big, too, of which we’ve seen flashes of.