Josh Hart appears open to a long-term contract with the Knicks, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype said in a discussion about the team with Ian Begley of SNY. Hart has been a perfect fit since being acquired from the Trail Blazers at the trade deadline, and he has quickly become a favorite of head coach Tom Thibodeau.
Hart has a $13MM player option for next season, but he’s expected to turn it down and test the market. Scotto said Hart enjoys being in New York and will likely get a three- or four-year offer from the team.
Begley adds that the Knicks wouldn’t have parted with a future first-round pick along with Cam Reddish unless they were confident that they could keep Hart. He notes that Hart has talked about his connections to team president Leon Rose as well as Jalen Brunson and Julius Randle and is looking for stability after being traded four times in his first six NBA seasons.
There’s more on the Knicks from Scotto and Begley:
- Teams may have missed an opportunity by not trading for Immanuel Quickley earlier this season, per Scotto, who says there were rumors that New York would have taken a first-round pick in return. Quickley is now among the favorites for Sixth Man of the Year honors and may be in line for a rookie scale extension this summer. Begley suggests the Knicks’ offer will have to be “something significant” to get Quickley to accept, adding that he’s not likely to give them a “home team discount.”
- Randle’s reemergence should make Obi Toppin a strong trade candidate, according to Scotto. The third-year power forward is playing just 14.6 minutes per game and will make $6.8MM next season. Begley states that the Knicks talked to several teams about Toppin before the deadline, including the Pacers, but no one was willing to offer the draft assets they wanted in return for the former lottery pick.
- New York will also look for a taker for Evan Fournier, who will have a virtual $18.8MM expiring contract next season because there’s a team option for 2024/25. Fournier was brought up in trade talks with the Raptors involving OG Anunoby, but Toronto was asking for three first-round picks and the Knicks weren’t confident about re-signing Anunoby when he reaches free agency in 2024, Scotto says. The Lakers also had some interest in Fournier earlier in the season, Begley adds.
- RJ Barrett hasn’t been in Thibodeau’s closing lineups recently, and Scotto believes the Knicks would be willing to use him as a trade chip if they chase a star player this summer.
Josh Hart = March Madness legend.. link to m.youtube.com
It’s hard to say, but as of now im very open to the idea of trading RJ. Guy cant be consistent and have a real good full season
Sorry Sankara, it wasn’t supose to reply to you, my mistake lol
I doubt Knicks move RJ. The players they will use to get a star player. Would be Quickley, Toppin, Mitch. Toppin needs to start. He is ready for prime time. Toppin for a DeRozan trade makes sense for both teams imo.
This explains the Knicks status now. Pretty well imo. It’s still a rebuild in progress. And the next step has to be a star player.
link to hoopshype.com
Fake fans who don’t follow teams. Never get or understand the full story. Truth about Toppin and the Knicks. Is he is the one who pushed Randle to get here. He’s responsible for the Randle you see now. I just hope he stays here. Cause he’s still too much drama for me. Hate to see Toppin go. But it’s time.
Hart is a great trade. And he wants to be here. So he’ll be resigned. He has a PO. Which he probably takes. So we can still have options next yr.
Julius Randle is a terrific basketball player. The man doesn’t get nearly the amount of credit he deserves.
He came to New York and thrived. In Year 2 he took a dive. He came back this year an All-Star despite all the criticism he took.
Obi Toppin is nowhere close to Julius Randle as a player.
Randle took a dive in year 3, not 2. You forget his first year pre-Thibs. This is Randle’s 4th season (and 2nd all star nod).
Why would the New York Knicks need a “home team discount”??? Money is not any type of issue for the New York Knicks.
Cap.