Isaiah Hartenstein (C, NYK) - Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wire Pickups for Week 5

Isaiah Hartenstein is worth considering as a fantasy basketball waiver wire pickup heading into Week 5 of the 2022-23 NBA season.

BALLER MOVE: Add in 14+ Team Leagues

ROSTERED IN: 12% of leagues

ANALYSIS: The Knicks are your favorite mediocre team, which probably isn't that bad considering the franchise's recent past during the last decade. Everything is pretty much average, but that doesn't mean we can't still find some gems buried in MSG. For example, the freshest-inked Knick Isaiah Hartenstein.

With Mitchell Robinson out of the rotation nurturing an injury that has left him out since Nov. 4, Hartenstein has taken on a slightly different role of late. Not that he really needed it, and in fact, this might sound counterintuitive but he's been better off the pain and subbing Mitch-Rob than starting.

It's only been two starts for Hartenstein since Robinson went down and he's actually been worst without him around than splitting rotation minutes with him. What I'm saying is that now might be the perfect time to catch fantasy GMs slipping and just losing hope on iHart ahead of Robinson's return and the boost that will bring to Hartenstein's upside.

In the last four games (no Rob) Hartenstein is averaging 5.5 PPG and 9+ RPG. Before that (Rob playing) the backup was putting up 8-8 nightly lines and also blocking shots like a madman: 1.5+ BPG.

Hartenstein is a good buy-low candidate and a WW-target for those in deeper leagues looking for big-man help. He has not really shown any sort of 3-point scoring prowess (a letdown considering his 46.7% donning Clippers' threads) but that should regress at least a bit as he's only shooting a putrid 16.7% from three.

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