When Josh Hart signed an extension with the New York Knicks two years ago, he was so elated to have finally found a home in the NBA. He was also celebrated for his exploits in his first playoff stint.
But after a rough postseason performance in his second full season with the Knicks, Hart sounded like he’s played his final game in New York.
“I feel like this team is good enough to make the next step, but we also know it’s a business,” Hart told reporters in the locker room after the Knicks’ Game 6 loss to the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals. “When you don’t get to where you feel you should have or could have, changes are made. You can’t be too comfortable. You open Twitter one day, and I’m somewhere else.
“That’s what’s disappointing the most, knowing that there’s a good chance that this team might not be back in totality.”
Josh Hart: ‘I Failed the Team’
Getty New York Knicks forward Josh Hart hints at a cloudy future.
The Knicks veteran forward struggled in the elimination game, missing five of his six attempts.
Hart wound up with only four points, six rebounds and one assist — a far cry from his regular-season averages of 13.6 points, 9.6 rebounds and 5.9 assists. He lost his starting spot in the final four games of the series. Against Indiana, he shot a dismal 18.2% from the 3-point line and averaged nearly as many turnovers (2.2) as assists (3.0).
“I failed the team,” Hart told reporters. “I didn’t bring it the way I should have, especially in this series. And if I played better, it could’ve been a different situation.”
Now, he and the Knicks head into an inflection point this offseason after their all-in moves last summer yielded a disappointing result in their first conference finals trip since 2000.
Leon Rose Expected to be ‘Aggressive’ in Offseason
In the aftermath of the Knicks’ elimination, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported that the team is not content with their first conference finals appearance in a quarter century.
“I’m told the Knicks have internal meetings this week to evaluate everything from the roster, different changes they could make, especially the roster,” Charania said on SportsCenter. “If the last year and a half is any indication, Knicks president Leon Rose has gone out and gotten OG Anunoby, Mikal Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns. I expect him to be just as aggressive this offseason — whether it’s a landmark player that you could bring in there or definitely [add] depth on that bench.”
The Knicks have a lot of big decisions to make, including the future of Towns and Bridges, who are extension-eligible this summer. They gave up a ton — three-time All-Star Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo and first-round pick for Towns while five first-round picks for Bridges — to acquire both players last summer.
The $5.7 million taxpayer midlevel exception will not be enough to get significant help. A big trade is their only pathway to making a significant change to their top-heavy roster.
This year’s playoffs showed that stars can only get you far, but true depth can get you to the finish line.
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