Getty Josh Hart of the New York Knicks celebrates.
After agreeing to push back the deadline to make a decision on whether to opt-in or out of his player option for next season, the situation between Josh Hart and the New York Knicks has finally come to a resolution.
As first reported by The Athletic’s Shams Charania, on Thursday evening the wing has agreed to opt into the final season of his current three-year, $37.9 million deal to stay in the Big Apple.
“New York Knicks G/F Josh Hart has opted into his $12.9 million contract to return for the 2023-24 season, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium,” Charania reported, via Twitter.
This news may come as a bit of a surprise to some, as the wing has gone on record this offseason stating that he’d “probably decline” his option and work to sign a new deal with the club via free agency.
With this decision, Josh Hart will play out the final year of his deal at a value of $13 million while the Knicks simultaneously attain more financial flexibility to utilize in free agency.
Signing Donte DiVincenzo Next on Knicks To-Do List?
The aforementioned financial flexibility that has come about with Josh Hart’s decision to opt-in very well could lead to the Knicks pursuing the likes of him and Jalen Brunson’s former Villanova teammate Donte DiVincenzo, which was a possibility noted by SNY’s NBA insider Ian Begley in a recent piece penned on June 28.
“In some ways, it starts with Josh Hart. Hart, DiVincenzo’s college teammate at Villanova, has a $13 million player option for 2023-24. He was widely expected to opt out of the deal and become a free agent. But the Knicks and Hart recently agreed to push the date to decide on the option to Thursday. This suggests that Hart’s decision could impact a corresponding move for New York. I assume that corresponding move involves making a run at DiVincenzo,” Begley wrote.
GSW went 15-10 in games Donte DiVincenzo started last season. Warriors outscored opponents by 157 points in those games when DiVincenzo was on the floor. There’s mutual interest between DiVincenzo & the Knicks, but NYK will have competition for the FA:
Begley would continue on by noting that there’s a “mutual interest between the Knicks and DiVincenzo” to unite this offseason.
The soon-to-be sixth-year guard is coming off a solid season serving as a trusty second-unit spark plug for the Golden State Warriors, where he posted averages of 9.4 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game while shooting 39.7% from deep through 72 games played.
Seth Curry Viewed as ‘Top Target’ for Knicks
Outside of Donte DiVincenzo, another guard being linked to the Knicks as a possible free agent option for the franchise is Brooklyn Nets sharpshooter Seth Curry, who Bleacher Report’s Dan Favale recently tabbed as New York’s “top target” to pursue on the free agency market.
“My Bleacher Report colleague, Grant Hughes, made the case for the New York Knicks to sign Seth Curry, and his reasoning was spot on: ‘No playoff team canned a lower percentage of their three-point shots than the Knicks. Cite their lack of secondary playmaking, ankle injuries to virtually every key piece of the rotation or whatever else you like, but 29.6 percent shooting from distance was the main reason New York’s postseason run ended in the conference semifinals. Seth Curry can help with that. The 32-year-old guard shot 40.5 percent from deep for the Nets last season and ranks fifth all-time (among players with at least 1,500 career attempts) at a scorching 43.5 percent,’” Favale wrote.
Welcome to Brooklyn, S3TH
Throughout his nine-year NBA career, Seth Curry has established himself as one of the most efficient long-range shooters in league history. Since 2019-20, the 32-year-old finds himself sporting per-game averages of 12.3 points, 2.5 assists, and 2.4 rebounds while shooting 48.0% from the field and 43.3% from deep.