Giannis: Red-hot Jazz ‘best team in the West’

The Oklahoma City Thunder are in the market for a center in free agency. That search has them focused on unrestricted free agent Isaiah Hartenstein of the New York Knicks.

The Knicks have Early Bird rights for Hartenstein, which limits them to offering him a starting salary around $17 million for next season. The Thunder project to have $35 million in cap space to offer a free agent.

One source said Oklahoma City’s interest in Hartenstein is “real.” A suggested path could be to offer Hartenstein a larger initial salary than New York can, but on a short-term deal of two years. That would leave the Thunder with flexibility moving forward, in case the signing didn’t work out.