Knicks’ Josh Hart Makes Definitive Statement on Contract Extension

It was a bit of a surprise this NBA offseason when Knicks guard Josh Hart, who transformed the team’s bench after he was traded from Portland, decided to opt in to the final year and $12.9 million of his contract in June, rather than look for a bigger payday in free agency.

But in time, the reasoning became clear—the Knicks can still extend Hart’s contract this offseason for bigger money, and most likely will. And Hart’s decision to opt in also allowed the Knicks more flexibility to add players, especially Hart’s former Villanova teammate Donte DiVincenzo.

Hart left no doubt he is on board to sign on with the Knicks long-term.

“New York is somewhere I want to be,” Hart said at the Team USA camp in Las Vegas. “We’ll get everything else, hopefully, later down the line. But I opted in because New York is where I wanted to be, it is where I want to call home, I felt like this was the best decision to do.  … I wanted to stay in New York, I wanted to give this team the best chance to be the best team they can be to go out there and compete. And opting in was definitely something that was going to help us build and continue to build. So, I felt like that was something i wanted to do, something the team wanted, too.”

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Four Years, $75 Million for Josh Hart?

Last month, Stefan Bondy of The Daily News estimated that Hart’s new contract would be worth in the neighborhood of four years and $75 million, a significant raise that will kick in after next season. That is reasonable for a player who averaged 10.2 points, 7.0 rebounds and 3.6 assists after arriving in New York over his final 25 games.

He can begin negotiating on that deal next week.

Hart, who is participating with Team USA ahead of the World Cup in East Asia at the end of the month, shot 58.6% from the field and 51.9% from the 3-point line, well above his normal career averages (46.5% and 35.0%). In other words, expect him to revert a bit closer to his mean next year.

But also expect Hart to be a crucial role player, as he was last year. Hart is an excellent passer and is always well-positioned, and the offense hummed when he was on the floor, averaging 125.0 points per 100 possessions, compared with 116.9 points when he was off the floor, according to Basketball-Reference.com.

The presence of Hart—as well as his willingness to skip out on free agency—was also important to the Knicks’ signing of DiVincenzo, New York’s biggest offseason acquisition. Hart, DiVincenzo and Knicks star Jalen Brunson were all teammates under Jay Wright with the Wildcats, where Hart (2016) and DiVincenzo (2018) won one championship each and Brunson won two (2016 and 2018).

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Knicks Guards Figure to Be Expensive

Assuming Hart can be locked up long-term, the Knicks will have a bit of a quandary when it comes to what to do about its other key bench guard—Immanuel Quickley, who is eligible for an extension this summer and is seeking a four-year deal in the range of $100 million, according to Heavy Sports’ sources.

With Hart and DiVincenzo on board and slated to combine for $25 million next season, plus starters R.J. Barrett ($24 million) and Jalen Brunson ($26.3 million), the Knicks are looking at a very expensive set of backcourt players, and that’s before potential extensions for Hart and Quickley hit the books.

That is also not counting Evan Fournier’s final contract year, which will pay him $18.9 million. The Knicks would like to move Fournier, but would have to dump a first-round pick to do so. New York could be inclined to simply wait things out with Fournier, who is not happy about not playing.

All of this has led to increased speculation about the future of these Knicks guards, though at this point, there is no firm indication they’re looking to make a trade.

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