Center Isaiah Hartenstein was a recent casualty of the Knicks' move to go all in on wings by trading an exorbitant sum for Mikal Bridges and re-signing talented but injury prone OG Anunoby to a five-year, $213 million deal.
With this route taken — maximizing on three-and-D, perimeter defenders and shooters — Hartenstein was the odd man out. Of course, the Knicks would have preferred to keep him, but it wasn't possible because of Hartenstein's financial leverage in free agency, where he was due for a massive pay raise from his $8 million, 2023-24 salary.
Not only would a new contract put the Knicks into salary cap purgatory, but the most they could have offered him was $16 million per year for four years because New York merely owned his Early Bird Rights. Meanwhile, in the open market, Hartenstein was due to make far more than that. The Thunder's new deal pays him about $29 million per year, with cost of living costs and taxes substantially less in Oklahoma relative to New York City.
So, off goes one of the key cogs in a Knicks team that electrified the city throughout spring.
As a result, the Thunder's odds increased slightly in the championship market, according to FanDuel. Their odds heading into Monday morning were +900, and those have moved to +850.
Meanwhile, the Knicks saw their odds stay the same at the sportsbook at +950. The Thunder are the fourth-best favorites in the NBA to win it all and second-best favorites in the Western Conference. In fact, the Action Network's Matt Moore makes the argument that the Thunder should be the favorites over the Nuggets in the West as a result of the Hartenstein acquisition.
Meanwhile, the Knicks are fifth-best favorites overall and third in the Eastern Conference, behind the defending champion Celtics and the 76ers, which just acquired Paul George.
