Josh Hart is eligible to sign an extension with the Knicks on Thursday, and the Villanova product is expected to do just that, as he and the team are finalizing a four-year extension that will keep him in New York through the 2027-28 season, SNY NBA Insider Ian Begley confirms.
Per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, who was the first to report the deal, Hart's extension will pay him $81 million. The new deal, which kicks in after this upcoming season, will add to his $12.9 million option for 2023-24, paying him roughly $94 million total over the next five seasons.
The four-year $81 million deal is the maximum extension available to Hart.
Hart initially exercised his player option earlier this offseason rather than testing free agency. He was projected to make around $18 million annually in free agency. Instead, he exercised a $13 million player option for 2023-24. That move gave the Knicks the financial flexibility to sign Donte DiVincenzo to a four-year deal.
“I wanted to stay in New York, I wanted to give this team the ... chance to be the best team that it could be and help them compete,” Hart said earlier this month about exercising his player option. “Opting in was definitely something that was going to help the team. To help us continue to build. I felt like that was something I wanted to do, something the team wanted also. So I wanted to be there, wanted the team to be the best that it could be so I thought that was the best thing to do.”
Acquired in a midseason trade with the Portland Trail Blazers, Hart made an immediate impact in New York. The Knicks won their first eight games with him in the lineup and went 17-8 to close out the regular season. Hart averaged 10.2 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 3.6 assists over those 25 games. He also appeared in 11 playoff games, including five starts, averaging 10.4 points and 7.4 rebounds while playing through an ankle injury.
When Hart signs his extension, the Knicks will have six rotation players under contract through the 2024-25 season (Hart, RJ Barrett, Jalen Brunson, Julius Randle, Mitchell Robinson and DiVincenzo).
The next order of business for New York? Signing Immanuel Quickley to an extension. The deadline for Quickley’s extension is the night before the start of the regular season.
The Hart extension should not have an impact on the Knicks’ interest level in extending Quickley, who averaged 15 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.4 assists off the bench last season.