Josh Hart was trending towards above-average bench options who weren’t specialists. Hart entered last season with the Knicks as his fourth team. Having bounced around the league for the better part of his first six seasons, there weren’t huge expectations from him. The Knicks’ bench was highly rated, but a big part of the reason was their perennial Sixth Man of the Year candidate Immanuel Quickley.
Who has the same opinion now? After career-best years in all advanced metrics, Hart is a consensus top-100 player, an accolade that he has never received before in his seven-year NBA career. Despite this high praise, Hart currently ranks outside the Top 5 in Sixth Man of the Year odds.
Knicks Do-it-All Sixth Man Candidate Deserves More Respect
Donte DiVincenzo Was Taking Away Hart’s Minutes
Donte DiVincenzo was an elite shooter for the Knicks last year. He shot 40.1% from 3 last season, which was in the 84th percentile league-wide. Donte was a good on-ball defender, coming in the 88th percentile for most steals. His ability to seamlessly slide into the starting role once the Knicks were down manpower was highly beneficial, and he flourished. Post-trade deadline, DiVincenzo averaged over 20 points per game for the Knicks, acting as their second best scorer.
His ability to space the floor and catch-and-shoot at an elite level gave Jalen Brunson a lifeline when possessions broke down. DiVincenzo also acted as an above-average playmaker for the Knicks, and his relatively low turnover percentage makes him a safe bet with the ball in his hands.
All of this meant that he would bite into Hart’s minutes. Having two good role players on the bench means that neither of them would have had the opportunity to shine as much, and Tom Thibodeau’s penchant for playing his best players for heavy minutes would have been a bigger detriment to Hart.
Josh Hart
There are Swiss Army Knife players in the NBA, and then there’s Hart. The Michael Jordan of Swiss Army Knives (at least in today’s league). Last season, one hundred sixteen players scored over 31 points. 63 people had more than 12 assists in a game, and 24 players had more than 19 rebounds in a game. Josh Hart was amongst the five players who hit those marks last season. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokic, LeBron James, and Domantas Sabonis were the other four. Four NBA superstars, and one Josh Hart. Hart had seven games with 10+ assists, 31 games with 10+ rebounds, and four games with 20+ points.
Whatever role you want him to take, he can do it. Hart had one of his better seasons in 2023-24 and was a positive contributor despite low shooting marks. He was worth 5.7 win shares to the Knicks, and the Knicks were an excellent defense with him on the court. He ranked 36th in the league in crafted defensive plus-minus and has shown himself to be an elite role player.
Low Odds
There is no reason for Hart to have such low Sixth Man of the Year odds. Yes, the award has a historic bias towards pure scorers off the bench. Despite his stat-stuffing nature everywhere else, scoring is usually the most important factor in the Sixth Man of the Year race. He now remains the lone do-it-all guy on the Knicks, and it seems like he will have a fairly decent role this season too. You don’t have to play all your games off the bench to qualify for the award, just more than you start.
Hart will be a starter until Mitchell Robinson is back, and this allows him to pad his stats on the Knicks. When Robinson’s back, Hart will likely come off the bench, and still be one of the better rebounders across the league (especially for his size), meaning he could average close to a double-double due to his importance for the Knicks.
The Last Word on Knicks Sixth Man Candidates
The hype around the Knicks is justifiable. Their star power is surrounded by elite wings and plug-and-play guys, allowing them to go deep this year. If the Knicks finish with 55+ wins, Hart will be the frontrunner for the Sixth Man award.
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