Josh Hart isn’t sweating the New York Knicks’ decision to publicly table extension talks with himself, Karl-Anthony Towns, and Miles McBride. The perseverance in the face of disappointment is admirable, but also necessary, because the team option he has for the 2027-28 season leaves him without any choice.
The 31-year-old was asked about the Knicks releasing a truly bizarre, totally unnecessary statement declaring they’d be shuddering contract negotiations. Hart is taking it all in stride. He not only posted “NY🧡💙” on Twitter immediately after the announcement, but he told reporters “I'm in an amazing situation off the court. It's not frustrating."
This is quite the contrast to Towns going the “No s**t, Sherlock” route just a few days ago. But that’s to be expected. The Knicks have more control over Hart’s future, and he sounds like he knows it.
The Knicks aren’t incentivized to extend Josh Hart if he’s not taking a discount
New York has a team option worth $22.4 million on Hart for next season. As the Knicks meticulously try to stay under the second apron, they have no reason to change that number unless it’s to their benefit.
If Hart is asking for more or not willing to accept the discount they’re pitching, they already know how much it will cost to keep him. More importantly, they know he can’t just leave. Hart can only reach free agency if they let him.
This runs completely counter to Towns’ situation. He has a $61 million player option for the 2027-28 campaign. The Knicks can’t force him to pick that up. He can decline it and shop around next summer if he so pleases.
Hart’s lack of control over what happens next season leaves him no choice other than to play the good soldier. He could try demanding a trade, but he’s at home in New York, Jalen Brunson is one of his best friends, and oh yeah, this team just won a title.
In the event he broke character and did demand a trade, well, the Knicks would be under little pressure to move him. Leverage in those cases peaks when you’re entering a contract year. New York is the party who gets to determine whether he’s entering one.
Accepting a discount won’t even be enough to land Hart an extension
Both the Knicks and Hart would prefer to get a deal done now. Knowing his salary next year and beyond would go a long way toward helping the front office finagle its plans as the roster gets more expensive.
To some extent, though, Hart’s extension talks are also about Towns. He is the first domino that needs to fall, because his situation is more urgent, and because going forward, he’s going to be the most expensive of the Knicks’ core players not named Jalen Brunson.
Short of Hart offering to take an unfathomably large pay cut, then, New York almost assuredly wouldn’t extend him without resolving the KAT situation first. So yeah, there’s no point in him getting frustrated. His extension is, for the most part, beyond his control.
And based on his latest comments, Hart appears to understand as much.
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