New York Knicks 2023-24 Player Preview: Home Sweet Home for Josh Hart

The New York Knicks rewarded Josh Hart's abbreviated first season with a long-term deal and now it's time to return the favor.

Autumn in New York ... from a basketball perspective, it's finally inviting.

The New York Knicks return to action on Wednesday night against the Boston Celtics (7 p.m. ET, ESPN) in a game that will officially open one of the more anticipated seasons in recent metropolitan memory. New York is coming off its most successful NBA season in a decade, winning 47 games and a playoff series for the first time since 2013.

With tip-off looming, All Knicks will analyze and preview what's to come for the major contributors on the blue-and-orange roster. Part VI turns to a de facto New York rookie in Josh Hart ...

Josh Hart pushed the Knicks to undeniable new heights upon his roster entry at the last trade deadline / Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

Player Profile

Name: Josh Hart 
Position: Forward/Guard
Height/Weight: 6-5, 215 lbs.
College: Villanova
Experience: 7th season (2nd with Knicks)

The Story So Far

Hopefully, the national championship that Hart helped Villanova earn, the last-second thriller against North Carolina in 2016, proved psychologically sustainable: after entering the Association as the final pick of the 2017 draft's first round, it took Hart six seasons and 372 regular season appearances to taste his first NBA postseason game.

It's not like Hart had dug his own professional grave. Over his first six seasons, he averaged 9.9 points and 5.7 rebounds and served as a depth star for the Los Angeles Lakers, New Orleans Pelicans, and Portland Trail Blazers. It was a career with assorted highs and lows: for example, he hit the jackpot in Las Vegas with Summer League MVP honors in 2018 but nagging injuries and frequent changes of address began to eat away at his career shortly after. 

Hart had been a professional nomad since his entry, so it was hardly a surprise to see his name surface in trade deadline gossip last February. The Knicks inquired when they needed depth scoring, rebounding, and defense off the bench, making him well worth the price of the exiled Cam Reddish, 12th men Ryan Arcidiacono (who's back in two with his collegiate teammate) and Svi Mykhailiuk, and what eventually became the 23rd pick of last summer's draft.

Once he was stationed in the Knicks'  rotation, Hart stood as a relative MVP and the evidence was clear in the most important category of all. He averaged 10.2 points and 7.0 rebounds while the Knicks went 17-8 en route to clinching the fifth seed on the Eastern Conference bracket, well safe from the purgatory of the Play-In Tournament.

Hart played above and beyond the $12.9 million player option that came over the Pacific Northwest. But, in an apparent sign of trust between the current Knicks contingent and patient management clearly drawing a blueprint for something bigger, Hart agreed to the option en route to a four-year, $81 million extension afterward. In addition to his metropolitan payday, Hart was also called upon to rep the United States in the FIBA Basketball World Cup. A strong interior outing during the warm-up sessions thrust him into the starting five during group and tournament play.

They Said It

“I’m whatever we need, man. I (would bring) the ball up last year. You’ve seen there are times when I’m setting screens, rolling. I’m guarding point guards, shooting guards, small forwards, power forwards. It’s just a little whatever they need.”-Hart on what he brings to the Knicks in his first full season (h/t Fred Katz, The Athletic)  

"People ask ‘what position does he play?’ He plays winner. I don’t know what position he plays, but he gets loose balls and guards anybody. At one point (USA assistant coach Erik Spoelstra) turned to me and said ‘some people get 50-50 balls, but he gets the 30-70 balls. Josh really moves the ball well in transition as he's often the first guy to create the advantage. He just has a unique game and what he does translates to winning."-Team USA head coach Steve Kerr (h/t New York Basketball on X)

2023-24 Forecast

Hart is a man of many talents, a man of many depth chart slots. The most prominent place he can attack for the time being is the spot behind Julius Randle.

Beyond Hart's big direct deposits, the biggest moves of the Knicks' offseason was more or less exchanging Obi Toppin for another former Villanova Wildcat, Donte DiVincenzo, in the retained nine-man rotation. Trading Toppin was necessary to get through the 2023-24 season and beyond with a sense of no drama but it left the Knicks lacking in post depth.

Hart doesn't have the frame of Toppin but an explosive wingspan on display during the World Cup could certainly help put the Knicks' minds at ease when the second unit is on the floor. The idea of Hart having found, nay, earned, a home also can't be understated. Being granted that sense of professional stability should do wonders for his mental side as he embarks on a crucial quest.

Previous Previews

• RJ Barrett
• Jalen Brunson
• Donte DiVincenzo
• Evan Fournier
• Quentin Grimes