The NBA continues to be in as healthy of a financial position as there is. Players in the association continue to be rewarded with gigantic contracts that will have them set for life. One of those players who managed to secure life-changing money in this year's offseason was Isaiah Hartenstein, whose tireless efforts for the New York Knicks, particularly during the 2024 NBA playoffs, was rewarded by the Oklahoma City Thunder with a three-year, $85 million deal.
Hartenstein helps the Thunder shore up the greatest weakness of their roster that proved to be their undoing in their second-round matchup in this year's playoffs against the Dallas Mavericks: rebounding. However, not everyone is a fan of the contract the Thunder gave Hartenstein.
For two-time NBA champion and two-time All-Star David West, Isaiah Hartenstein's new contract isn't too proportionate to the numbers he put up for the Knicks as a whole during the 2023-24 season. West then proceeded to take a shot at the Thunder big man on his official Instagram account.
There is simply more money going around among NBA players these days due to the TV deals the league has signed. In fact, David West himself benefitted from the league's salary cap explosion. It may not have been to his financial benefit, but West can call himself a two-time NBA champion thanks in large part to the Golden State Warriors' move for Kevin Durant in 2016 that would not have been possible without the cap spike.
Nevertheless, it is, indeed, a bit of a shame that West missed out on a larger payday than what Isaiah Hartenstein commanded this offseason due to the timing of when he became an NBA player. But the goal for those who have come before is to always leave the league in a much better place. The NBA is in a great position, finances-wise, and the more players that are benefitting from it, the better.
Did the Thunder overpay for Isaiah Hartenstein?
Isaiah Hartenstein is set to make an average of $29 million for the next three seasons with the Thunder; this contract makes him the 61st-highest paid player in the association. A quick look at Hartenstein's averages shows that the Thunder, indeed, may have paid above market-value for the 26-year-old center.
However, the Thunder don't exactly have other pressing roster needs. They identified Hartenstein as the man who could help them mount a deeper run in the 2025 NBA playoffs as he is the kind of player they sorely lacked this past season. The Thunder front office has certainly earned the benefit of the doubt with all of their moves.
David West career retrospective
Drafted with the 17th overall pick of the 2003 NBA Draft, David West emerged as a starting-caliber player in his third season, finishing second in the Most Improved Player voting in 2006. He got better from there, emerging as a nightly 20-10 threat as he blossomed in a fruitful partnership with Chris Paul.
West, following his rookie contract, signed a five-year contract worth around $45 million. He did not finish his contract, opting out of what would have been the fifth year of his deal, but according to HoopsHype, he still made around $55 million when adjusted for today's dollars.
$55 million doesn't get teams All-Star-caliber players these days; David West certainly would have made more than $100 million over a four-year span had he been born 10 years later.
Perhaps West's career trajectory would have been different if he didn't tear his ACL in March 2011. Coming off a serious injury like that depressed his value in free agency during that year, and as a result, he was only able to sign a two-year, $20 million deal following the lockout.
David West thrived with the Pacers, outplaying the two-year contract he signed in 2011. He became a crucial part of the Pacers' identity as a bruising team that gave LeBron James' Miami Heat some trouble. He then re-signed in 2013 for a contract worth $36 million across three seasons, with a player option for the final year.
West played out the two guaranteed seasons of his contract, but after he felt as though the Pacers organization had disrespected his frontcourt mate Roy Hibbert, he opted out of his contract for the 2015-16 season. This was when he began his ring-chasing journey.
In 2015, David West signed with the San Antonio Spurs for the minimum after they brought in LaMarcus Aldridge to supplant their roster. After the Spurs fizzled out of the 2016 NBA playoffs against the Oklahoma City Thunder, West joined the superteam Warriors and signed minimum deals in two consecutive offseasons. Overall, West made around $5.5 million in salary from 2015 to 2018 — or about $7 million less than what the final year of his deal with the Pacers would have paid him.