Josh Hart was the lone Team USA player not to take the court in the American’s route of Puerto Rico Monday. Don’t blame Steve Kerr, this was about keeping the Knicks’ forward healthy and not taking risks until he agreed to and signed a contract extension.
Deal done, a story broken by Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
New York Knicks G Josh Hart is finalizing a four-year, $81 million contract extension, Aaron Mintz, Dave Spahn and Steven Heumann of @CAA_Basketball tell ESPN. Deal delivers Hart a total of $94M through 2027-2028 season. pic.twitter.com/PNlhKWka4g
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) August 9, 2023
That is the max offer New York could put on the table. This should not be a surprise, Hart sounded like a guy who wanted to stay in New York, just not at a discount. Hart will make just shy of $13 million this season then his new four-year deal starts at $18.1 million — the Knicks paid up but still got their guy for less than 15% of the salary cap.
For that money, the Knicks get a gritty two-way forward who averaged 10.2 points and seven rebounds a game off the bench for Tom Thibodeau last season. More than numbers, Hart brings the kind of energy and game the Knicks need if this team is going to take a step forward off last season.
However, first Hart will suit up for Kerr and Team USA, likely starting this weekend in World Cup tune-ups against Spain and Slovenia.
