Josh Hart closed last season and spent much of the summer being viewed as a glaring weak point for the New York Knicks. Few wanted him to remain in the starting lineup. Some wondered whether they’d be better off trading him.
Now, just a handful of games into his stay on the sidelines with a sprained right ankle, it has become painfully obvious, once more, that this current Knicks roster needs him—badly, desperately, in more ways than one.
Unfortunately for New York, the 30-year-old combo wing will remain shelved for at least another week, according to SNY’s Ian Begley. On the bright side, this at least provides the Knicks with a light at the end of the tunnel. And, boy oh boy, do they need it.
The trickle-down effect of Josh Hart’s injury is painful
Let’s preface all of this by acknowledging that Hart is far from a perfect player.
Even as his three-point volume and percentage climb, he can have an adverse impact on New York’s half-court balance. Despite last year’s starting five faring better this season, there’s a real debate over whether he should be opening games, and if he’s a must-have inside their default crunch-time unit.
Any and all debates end here, with how he’s best deployed. The idea of materially shrinking his role is officially ludicrous. The fallout from his mini absence is proof.
Suitable stand-ins are scarce. Hart’s injury has left the Knicks to depend more on rookie Mohamed Diawara, sophomore two-way player Kevin McCullar Jr., and Guerschon Yabusele. Though Diawara and McCullar are proving to be worth developmental reps, neither is a perfect solution.
After briefly starting in Hart’s absence, Diawara has now fallen behind McCullar in the rotation. Yabusele, meanwhile, continues to vacillate between unspectacular, and completely, utterly unplayable.
Granted, the growing pains and outright failures of New York’s available substitutes are only part of the calculus. Diawara, McCullar, and Yabusele could all be hitting their highest-percentile outcomes in real time, and they still wouldn’t come close to replicating Hart’s impact.
Josh Hart is integral to the Knicks’ identity
People have scoffed at the notion of him being New York’s Draymond Green. And yet, it’s true. Hart is not an All-NBA candidate, or generational defender. But he’s capable of wearing many hats. He brings rebounding, defensive positional versatility, ball-handling, passing, and a nose for pace. On any given night, he can shape-shift his role to emphasize what the Knicks need most.
Nobody else on the roster matches this functional amalgam. New York has higher end players, but there’s not another soul, as one example, who gets Jalen Brunson running on the break like Hart.
Just as OG Anunoby is the engine that powers the Knicks’ defense, just as Mitchell Robinson is the fulcrum propping up the offense’s second chances, Hart is the team’s billboard for versatility. It should come as no surprise New York is flirting with a bottom-10 net rating since he went down.
Other issues are contributing to the Knicks’ miniature rut, but this isn’t about an isolated or temporary stretch. It’s about the bigger picture, a larger message, a greater lesson New York should have already learned.
For all his warts, for all the obstacles he has and will continue to impose, Hart is not someone the Knicks are equipped to replace—or even approximate.