It hasn’t been the biggest sample size for Isaiah Hartenstein with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
We know that to be the case; he’s made 15 appearances with Cleveland since being acquired via trade from the Denver Nuggets near the league’s March 25 deadline. As a brief refresher, that was in exchange for JaVale McGee and two future second-round picks, one of which is set to be protected.
Hartenstein has looked to be a quality contributor with the Cavs, though, which has been nice to see.
After he didn’t receive much meaningful run in NBA play with the Houston Rockets in his first two seasons, and didn’t have necessarily a large role with Denver (9.1 minutes per outing), the young big has taken advantage of more run with Cleveland.
In 15 appearances with the Cavs post-deadline, he’s averaged 8.7 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in 18.3 minutes per contest. Him having 2.5 assists per outing with Cleveland in that run, as mostly a rotational 5, has been noteworthy, too.
His passing feel has really been something that’s jumped out in his burn, and that’s led to him being able to mesh well with a variety of other Cavs players.
Hartenstein did end up missing five games because of a concussion before Cleveland’s last outing on Wednesday, which ended up being a blowout L to the Portland Trail Blazers, as a brief side note. Albeit as we know, the Cavaliers are so injury-riddled to close out the year here, and not having Darius Garland (ankle sprain) didn’t help, for instance.
With what I’ve seen out of Hartenstein in his burn, though, it’s evident that he’s been a quality trade acquisition. With his finishing touch/capabilities to finish with authority inside, rebounding acumen, and interior presence defensively, to go with the secondary playmaking, to me, he’d be nice to keep around for perhaps the next few seasons, for example.
Hartenstein is set to have a $1.8 million player option for next season, but I would think he’d more than likely decline that. He has shown when he’s gotten meaningful burn in other instances with Houston and with Denver that he is a more than capable rotational big, and I would think he’d perhaps look for a better deal and/or maybe with a few years involved.
Provided he does decline that, the Cavs should look to re-sign Hartenstein.
Firstly, Hartenstein has shown he can affect games in a variety of ways in his rotational burn, and can give Cleveland a boost in his run.
Hartenstein can affect games in a number of ways in his burn for the Cavs
As we alluded to, Hartenstein has shown he can provide quite the boost in his run for the Cavaliers. He’s been a very effective interior finisher as a roller, has shown quality instincts as a cutter and has at times been able to be a viable low-post player when he’s gotten interior seals earlier on in possessions.
That’s led to feeds from Darius Garland/Collin Sexton and some from Matthew Dellavedova when he’s had burn with him, and Hartenstein has looked to have nice chemistry even early on with Kevin Love and Dean Wade, for example.
As was also noted, Hartenstein’s passing has definitely been a big plus, too, and that’s been a pleasant surprise for a backup 5, in particular.
The sample size hasn’t been big, as was mentioned, but 5.0 assists per-36 minutes for him is nothing to sneeze at, and that sort of thing from him, combined with the finishing touch, has made an impact in non-Jarrett Allen minutes.
On the defensive end of the floor, Hartenstein has been very effective with his rebounding positioning, too, and while fouling is something he needs to clean up, he’s been a legitimate rim protection presence as well. In non-Allen minutes, that’s not to be discounted, either, and him being a true 7-footer has its share of positives.
From there, I wouldn’t imagine Hartenstein would be necessarily really expensive and him being another 23-year-old effective 5 for legitimately playable depth would be good to have around.
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.