Josh Hart’s season played a big part in the rollercoaster 2024-25 Knicks season for multiple reasons. A lot of what the Knicks did and didn’t do well stemmed from Hart’s presence on the team. And that isn’t a knock on who Hart is as a person, teammate, or player. But it is a knock on the way he was used, who he was used with, how much he was used, and what that ultimately meant, not just for Hart’s play, but the play of his teammates as well.
While many, including myself, begged the Knicks to start Deuce McBride next to Jalen Brunson, Hart started the season on fire, effectively shutting up a lot of people. He was playing his usual high-effort brand of basketball, rebounding at a high rate, and being the egoless connective role player that the starting lineup so badly needed, all while shooting a surprising 39.3% from three on 3.5 attempts per game through 32 games.
But when the calendar turned, so did the way opposing teams played him, and the Knicks, which effectively changed the trajectory of the season. Teams were putting their bigs and rim protectors on Hart, sagging off of him to help on to Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns, and daring Hart to beat them. And as his shot started to regress, so did the Knicks’ offense. For the remainder of the season, and almost the entirety of the playoffs, Tom Thibodeau stuck with Hart despite pleas for a change, which led to fans turning on the former fan favorite.
His defense had taken a step back, and we saw him make significantly more mistakes on that end of the floor. And offensively, while he tried to make the right play and continue playing selflessly, his lack of outside shooting, combined with his indecisiveness and lack of aggressiveness, led to him being a liability.
But heading into the 2025-26 season, the hope is that Hart returns to a bench role. If head coach Mike Brown can land on a starting lineup that includes either Deuce McBride or Mitchell Robinson as the fifth man instead of Hart, it should do wonders for all parties involved. The starting lineup should either improve significantly offensively with the former or improve significantly defensively from the latter. And as for Hart? Well, a return to the bench should allow him to be the best version of himself- one that thrives on being a one-man fastbreak starting rebounding machine, capable of wreaking havoc, and being a secondary playmaker.
No longer tasked with playing around Brunson, having to be one of the few guys on the team looking for Towns on trailing threes, or needing to constantly find ways to get Mikal Bridges and OG Anunoby involved, all of the best parts of Hart should be unlocked again. Regardless of who the second unit ends up being, fans should be excited about the prospect of Hart returning to the player we saw in years prior. Playing alongside Jordan Clarkson and Guerschon Yabusele gives him multiple outside shooting outlets to take advantage of. If Robinson gets the nod as the starter, McBride only adds to that spacing in the second unit. And if Brown decides to go with McBride as the starter, Hart and Robinson will undoubtedly make up the best bench rebounding combo in the league.
Much like **[my prediction for Mikal Bridges](/knicks-analysis/73241/2025-26-player-preview-mikal-bridges)**, I don’t expect Hart’s number to improve much, if at all. In fact, with the assumed move to the bench, we likely see a drop in production statistically. But I do expect him to be better in almost every facet of the game if he can come off the bench and not worry so much about playing for and around the starters constantly. I expect him to be closer to the best version of himself. I expect him to be a better defender. I expect him to look to score more. And I expect him to be the heart and soul of the team that we all fell in love with.
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