Josh Hart may be the consummate team player, but he’d be lying if he said he was in love with his new role. So, he won’t say it. In fact, he’s hinting at the exact opposite.
“I hope [I play more],” he told reporters when asked about his minutes in light of OG Anunoby’s hamstring injury, per Kristian Winfield of the New York Daily News. “I think I was playing the least minutes of my career [before now].”
He is close to spot-on about his minutes. Prior to the game in which OG was injured, against the Miami Heat, Hart was averaging 23.7 minutes. That would be the second-lowest of his career, trailing only the 23.2 minutes he saw as a rookie in 2017-18 with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Of course, Hart doesn’t need to plumb career lows to feel the difference. He ranked among the NBA’s most used players under former head coach Tom Thibodeau, including leading the league in minutes per game last season with 37.6.
Hart is closer to his normal usage now that Anunoby is on the sidelines. He is still coming off the bench, but averaging nearly 33 minutes across the last three games. He can thank not only OG’s absence for the uptick, but also the Knicks’ complete lack of secondary wing depth.
The question is: What happens once OG comes back?
The Knicks can’t give Josh Hart the role he would prefer
Keeping Hart around 30 minutes per game will prove impossible when New York is closer to full strength. Cutting Anunoby’s minutes to lighten his load isn’t an option. Right now, he is the lone player standing between the Knicks and total defensive futility.
If anything, it could get harder to give Hart 20-plus minutes per game. New York cannot afford to bench Landry Shamet with the way he’s playing. And Jordan Clarkson, whose minutes are already taking a ding thanks to Shamet, remains one of the Knicks’ best on-ball creators, in ways that Hart can’t replicate.
Taking action away from Deuce McBride is similarly difficult—if not reckless. He is the team’s best pest at the point of attack, and a big reason why Mikal Bridges is in a more optimized defensive role.
New York needs to manage what could be a Josh Hart problem
To Hart’s credit, his candor should not be taken as a harbinger of discontent. He has said for months he will do whatever the Knicks ask of him, even if he believes he can and should do more.
Still, as this locker room’s cultural heartbeat, his happiness absolutely matters.
This doesn’t mean his situation will rise to the level of a trade. At least, it won’t this season. But the Knicks should look at carving out additional pockets for him to keep his engagement juices flowing.
Maybe that means experimenting with lineups in which he’s more obviously the point guard. Perhaps it entails excommunicating Guerschon Yanusele from the rotation, since he’s not playing minutes at center anyway.
Or hey, maybe there is nothing to see here—not now, not later—and New York can carry on with business as usual. That’s the preferred outcome. But until it is the confirmed outcome, the Knicks’ use of Hart and his response to it once Anunoby returns must be meticulously tracked.