Cavs: Free agent Isaiah Hartenstein can still have value as depth 5

The Cleveland Cavaliers didn’t make the most shocking of selections in the 2021 NBA Draft, when they went with Evan Mobley #3 overall.

Nonetheless, with the Mobley selection, Cleveland looks to have gotten a multifaceted big that could fit well with Jarrett Allen looking onward, with Mobley’s passing feel/vision and ability to create his own offense.

His ball handling as a 7-footer is part of the reason many pundits believe he’ll be a star in the league in the near future, and his defense on the perimeter when needed against guards and bigger wings can make a difference in itself. I don’t discount his shot contests and even blocks of perimeter shooters, either.

That said, with Mobley being only 215 pounds currently, it is apparent that he’ll feasibly play with Allen a fair amount, and I’d think regardless of if Kevin Love is around, with him reportedly likely to have a reduced role.

Even with the recently-re-signed Allen in the long term plans for the Cavs though, I do still believe Cleveland could end up bringing back Isaiah Hartenstein. Hartenstein declined his $1.8 million player option for next season and is reportedly seeking more security; but even with Mobley in the fold, Hartenstein could get some minutes with him and others in the frontcourt in games.

Despite not having much of a role with the Houston Rockets at the NBA level in his first few seasons, and then having a small role with the Denver Nuggets in his past half-season with them, he did have more opportunities with the Cavaliers post-deadline trade.

In 16 appearances with Cleveland, Hartenstein had 8.3 points, 6.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.2 blocks in 17.9 minutes per outing. That was before a concussion all but ended his season in the year’s closing batch of games. But his efforts were encouraging for his near future outlook.

I do still believe that even with that Mobley selection by the Cavs though, that Hartenstein can still have value in their rotation next season/maybe onward.

Hartenstein can still have value for the Cavs, and would provide solid depth, even post-Mobley selection.

Putting it out there, I completely understand that Hartenstein has not played much at the NBA level to this point. In his first situations with Houston and Denver, those were contending teams, and with their outlook, he wasn’t going to have much of a role anyway.

But Hartenstein was impressive with Cleveland post-deadline, even while I acknowledge it was again, a 16-game sample size.