{"id":537192,"date":"2026-01-15T00:40:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T00:40:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/537192\/"},"modified":"2026-01-15T00:40:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T00:40:13","slug":"the-knicks-rely-on-josh-hart-more-than-they-should","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/537192\/","title":{"rendered":"The Knicks rely on Josh Hart more than they should"},"content":{"rendered":"

SACRAMENTO \u2014 The numbers are jarring. And for a team with championship aspirations \u2014 with the NBA\u2019s second-highest payroll \u2014 they\u2019re unacceptable.<\/p>\n

The Knicks<\/a> are 12\u20133 with Josh Hart in the starting lineup. They went 3-5 in the games he missed following his Christmas Day ankle injury, are 5-5 overall in games he\u2019s missed due to injury, and 8-6 in games he\u2019s come off the bench.<\/p>\n

The math isn\u2019t complicated. Neither is the eye test.<\/p>\n

Without Hart, the Knicks regress. The ball sticks. The offense slows into stagnant, isolation-heavy possessions that feel familiar in the worst way. With their Swiss Army knife removed from the rotation, the connective tissue disappears \u2014 and so does the passing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think probably his play-making, having him out there play-making helps all of us,\u201d Mikal Bridges said after morning shootaround at Sacramento State University\u2019s Hornet Athletic Center on Wednesday. \u201cHe looks for everybody, keeps other teams honest.\u201d<\/p>\n

On defense, the drop-off is just as stark. Hart\u2019s toughness \u2014 his willingness to absorb contact, close space, rotate early, and rebound outside his position \u2014 isn\u2019t something the Knicks can replicate by committee. And if this team is serious about contending, that\u2019s a problem.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s one the Knicks need to solve.<\/p>\n

The most practical solution is also the most obvious: find another perimeter player before the Feb. 5 trade deadline who can defend, make plays and think the game at Hart\u2019s level. Because there is no one else on this roster who can replicate his blend of IQ, grit and athleticism. When removed from the equation, the house of cards at Madison Square Garden collapses in real time.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe just does so many things for us that are hard to replace as a singular player and we \u2014 starting with me \u2014 have to do a better job of finding ways to continue to elevate others around us,\u201d head coach Mike Brown said after practice at the Golden One Center on Tuesday. \u201cNot by a ton, but just doing a little extra here, a little extra there. If we can do that, we\u2019ll be a little bit better if he\u2019s out in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

Durability hasn\u2019t been Hart\u2019s calling card by accident. Since arriving in New York at the 2023 trade deadline, he\u2019s been one of the league\u2019s most reliable ironmen. Last season, he led the NBA in minutes per game among players who appeared in at least 64 games. He ranked second only to Bridges in total minutes played and third \u2014 behind Bridges and Miami\u2019s Tyler Herro \u2014 in total miles run on the court. He\u2019s played in 76 or more games in each of the past three seasons. If he doesn\u2019t miss another game, he\u2019ll finish with 72 this year.<\/p>\n

But freak injuries don\u2019t care about track records. Hart entered the season wearing a splint on his right ring finger<\/a>, dealt with lower back spasms in the preseason opener, then badly sprained his ankle on Christmas \u2014 a setback that cost him nearly three weeks and eight games.<\/p>\n

In that stretch, the Knicks failed to show they could function at a high level on either end of the floor without him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it starts with our attention to detail,\u201d Jalen Brunson said after practice Tuesday. \u201cWe have a lot of stuff we can be better at on both sides of the ball [if Josh is out]. I have a lot of stuff I can be better at. But it\u2019s the little things \u2014 it\u2019s execution, screen-setting, closeout angles. Those things go a long way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hart understands how quickly roles shift when a player is removed from the lineup.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone\u2019s role is different, so it takes time to adjust,\u201d Hart said. \u201cIf I was out a couple more games, guys would probably get more comfortable in those new roles. There\u2019s always a learning period when guys go down. Hopefully, we don\u2019t have to deal with that too much.\u201d<\/p>\n

The payroll makes the reliance harder to square.<\/p>\n

Hart is the Knicks\u2019 fifth-highest-paid player at $19.4 million, well behind Karl-Anthony Towns ($53M), OG Anunoby ($40M), Brunson ($35M), and Bridges ($25M). Yet his availability has quietly become the line separating wins from losses \u2014 and potentially a deep playoff run from an early exit.<\/p>\n

Unless the front office insulates itself.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust being who he is, bringing that energy, having a Swiss Army knife type of skill set \u2014 whatever we need, he\u2019s able to do at a high level,\u201d Towns said after shootaround Wednesday. \u201cHe\u2019s an integral part of our team. Having him back is great.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is.<\/p>\n

But if the Knicks have learned anything this season, it\u2019s that they can\u2019t afford to need Hart this much \u2014 and they can\u2019t afford to find that out again in April.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SACRAMENTO \u2014 The numbers are jarring. And for a team with championship aspirations \u2014 with the NBA\u2019s second-highest…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":537193,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3784],"tags":[7,601,327,73970,23817,6,687,471,3967,1617],"class_list":{"0":"post-537192","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-portland-trail-blazers","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-blazers","10":"tag-josh-hart","11":"tag-knicks-nba","12":"tag-kristian-winfield","13":"tag-nba","14":"tag-portland","15":"tag-portland-trail-blazers","16":"tag-portlandtrailblazers","17":"tag-trail-blazers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/115896334681567645","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/537192","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=537192"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/537192\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/537193"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=537192"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=537192"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=537192"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}