Mock Draft: New York Knicks Find Isaiah Hartenstein Replacement?

If Isaiah Hartenstein is truly gone, the New York Knicks could turn to Indiana's Kel'el Ware in the NBA Draft.

Mar 15, 2024; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Indiana Hoosiers center Kel'el Ware (1) reacts during the first / Matt Krohn-USA TODAY Sports

With Sunday marking the end of the 2023-24 NBA regular season, the NBA Draft picture is slowly forming.

While the New York Knicks have more immediate matters to attend to, they'll likely have a bigger eye on rookies than they've had in recent times, especially with a big loss looming: this offseason will perhaps see the Knicks bid farewell to Isaiah Hartenstein, whose career-best season likely places him out of New York's price range.

In a recent mock draft from USA Today's Bryan Kalbrosky, the Knicks partly fill the potential Hartenstein hole by drafting Indiana center Kel'el Ware with the 21st overall pick.

"The Knicks could potentially lose Isaiah Hartenstein to free agency if he becomes prohibitively expensive," Kalbrosky writes. "They will want to at least take a look at Indiana sophomore big man Kel’el Ware, who had a very nice season."

Indiana's Kel'el Ware (1) scores over Michigan State's Jaxon Kohler (0) during the first half of the / Rich Janzaruk/Herald Times / USA TODAY

Ware earned second-team All-Big Ten and First-team All-Defenseive Big Ten honors in his sophomore season under former Knicks head coach Mike Woodson. He averaged 15.9 points, 9.9 rebounds, and 1.9 blocks this past season and proved capable of making a difference both near (60.9 percent on two-point tries) and far (42.5 percent from three).

His height and length at the center position could fit well in a Tom Thibodeau system that values defense above all else. Even if the Knicks find a way to work Hartenstein back into their fold, they learned exactly how important interior depth can be after they stay afloat while starting center Mitchell Robinson missed 50 games with an ankle injury.

New York officially has two ways to potentially land Ware, as the Dallas Mavericks' playoff clinch sent a first-round pick over as the final piece of the Kristaps Porzingis trade.