Call me crazy, but I think there's a scenario in which the New York Knicks could look to move on from Josh Hart at some point next season. Let me explain.
Yes, Hart is still the Knicks' heart (no pun intended) and soul. He's mister hustle. If you're on the opposing team, you'll have to put in some kind of herculean effort to be able to end the night saying that you truthfully played harder than Josh Hart.
But this isn't an issue of hustle, it's more so a question about roster fit. And now, with Mike Brown as the new leader of this group, there are a few different ways he might want to structure things.
Firstly, I think what starts the conversation with this is the issue of the starting front court. If you're Brown, do you roll with Karl Anthony-Towns as well as Mitchell Robinson in your starting five? Doing so would give you a very big front line when it comes to rebounding and defensive power, but could cause problems elsewhere like floor spacing because of Robinson.
Starting Robinson could make Hart more expendable
If you're going to play Mitch Rob as your starting center, you then have to think about how that limits your options from there. Plenty of Knicks fans are interested to see what kind of actions Brown can work on with Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby and KAT all on the floor at the same time given their collective versatility.
The thing is, if you commit to playing those three guys at once, that could slide Hart to the bench. That's not to say that Josh couldn't still thrive in a decently big role while not starting, but it simply begs the question of how much value he really provides relative to the other guys I just mentioned.
Let's be clear here: I still think keeping Hart around is probably for the better. The intangibles he brings to the table are far too valuable to just go giving up for pennies on the dollar. But if his role is reduced and it's obvious he doesn't fit as well with what Mike Brown is trying to build, I'm just saying I think the Knicks would consider dealing him.
Hart was already benched in last year's playoffs in order to insert Robinson into the starting group. If this ends up being New York's long-term strategy, Josh could end up being the guy on the trade block by the time January comes around.