Knicks player alleged Nets sabotaged him during his draft night
Nov 24, 2023; New York, New York, USA; General view of the in-season tournament court logo during warmups before a game between the New York Knicks and the Miami Heat at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
New York Knicks center Isaiah Hartenstein appears to still hold a grudge against the NBA team that plays a borough away.
Hartenstein recently appeared on “The Roommates Show” podcast hosted by his Knicks teammates Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart. Early into the episode, the Knicks big man revealed that he believes the Nets significantly hurt his draft stock back in 2017 (17:12 mark).
Hartenstein told Brunson and Hart that he had been projected to go anywhere from 15 to 35 in the 2017 NBA Draft. But the center fell all the way to 43rd to the Houston Rockets.
Hartenstein said that his agent had informed him on draft night about how the Nets “red-flagged” the German-American for a knee injury he never had. The Nets’ medical staff had allegedly seen something during Hartenstein’s draft prospect physical.
“[The Brooklyn Nets] red-flagged me for my knee,” Hartenstein told his Knicks teammates. “I never had knee problems in my life. … On draft night, my agent was like, ‘Yo, what’s wrong with your knee?’ I’m like, ‘What are you talking about? My knee’s fine.’
“He’s like, ‘Oh. Brooklyn just red-flagged you for your knee, so you’ll probably drop a couple of spots.'”
The Knicks big man added that he flew back to Germany to see if there was anything actually wrong with his knee. According to Hartenstein, his doctors gave him a clean bill of health.
If Hartenstein’s claims are true, it’s hard to blame him for still holding a grudge against the Knicks’ neighboring team.
The financial difference between being a mid-to-late first-round pick and a second-round pick is huge. NBA.com’s official mock draft published just days before the 2017 draft pegged Hartenstein to go 23rd to the Toronto Raptors.
The 23rd pick that year, OG Anunoby, received 4-year, $9.7 million contract with the Raptors with the first two years guaranteed.
As a second-round pick, Hartenstein had no guarantee that he would receive a deal at all. Hartenstein ended up signing a 3-year, $3.9 million rookie deal with the Rockets.