BREAKING: Josh Hart Returns to Knicks on 2023-24 Player Option

After previously hinting at a decline, Josh Hart has opted to return to the New York Knicks on the player option that followed him with his trade to the Portland Trail Blazers.

One of the newest metropolitan basketball stars "Harts" New York.

Per Fred Katz of The Athletic, Josh Hart has opted into his $12.9 million player option with the New York Knicks for the 2023-24 season. Hart joined the Knicks in a trade deadline deal with the Portland Trail Blazers in a deal where the primary Pacific Northwest exports were Cam Reddish and what became the 23rd pick of last week's NBA Draft.

Hart previously said that he would decline his player option but agreed to push back the deadline to accept that payday to Thursday over the weekend. There was no denying that the Knicks played to a whole new level once he arrived: upon reuniting Hart with fellow Villanova University alum and close friend Jalen Brunson, New York went 17-8 in the 25 regular season games Hart played. His efforts helped the team lock up the fifth seed on the Eastern Conference playoff bracket en route to its first postseason series victory since 2013. 

In his New York debut, Hart averaged 10.2 points and seven rebounds as one of the first men off the bench. While the player option seems relatively low in comparison to Hart's impact on the Knicks, it perhaps hints that a big move is set to meet his approval. Hart, for example, has made no attempt to hide his desire to play with fellow former Villanova Wildcat Donte DiVincenzo, who declined his own player option with the Golden State Warriors to hit the free agent front.

Hart joins Miles McBride in the front of Knicks to ink new contract deals this week, as the latter inked a $1.8 million team option.

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Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags

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