The New York Knicks already have the ring. And now, who foots the bill for the feast?
Not for this season, but for the next, given how hard (almost impossible) it is to reach the summit again.
But if chasing a two-peat costs a lot, breaking up a champion team costs even more.
There isn’t a truly right decision. There isn’t an easy sacrifice. And when it comes to shaping the roster with the brutal task of matching the level set by the team that just lit Manhattan’s streets with splendor and gold, contradictions are inevitable.
On one hand, there’s the fear of stagnation and clinging to what worked once. On the other, there are feelings of gratitude, of debt, and of continuity, because you know… if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
Renewals, Renewals
Part of the ‘premium’ of the starting five is precisely to handle the future of this group with care.
On one side is Karl-Anthony Towns (player option for 2027-28), and on the other the future of Josh Hart, this time with a team option for that same 2027-28 season. But in the NBA, margins for extending and renewing are vast, and since August 10, the shooting guard is already eligible to sign an extension that could, at most, reach $132 million distributed over four seasons.
Hart: mucho más que números
Pocos esperan que los Knicks se acerquen a esa cifra al tratarse de un jugador exterior que ya ha cumplido los 31. Pero tampoco pueden ser desagradecidos con uno de los pilares de su mayor alegría en más de medio siglo.
Hart cerró la serie forzando al final con 10,4 puntos por encuentro, el menos prolífico de los cinco iniciales. Por delante quedaron Jalen Brunson (28,4), OG Anunoby (20,1), Karl-Anthony Towns (15,9) y Mikal Bridges (13,5). Tampoco estuvo especialmente preciso en el tiro, con un 43,1% de acierto en el conjunto de lanzamientos y un 32,6% desde la distancia.
Sin embargo, reducir su rendimiento a esas cifras sería perder buena parte de la película.
El alero aportó 8,9 rebotes, 4,6 asistencias y 1,7 robos por partido. Todo ello midiendo 1,93 metros y ocupando cualquier hueco, desempeñando cualquier función que el equipo necesitara cubrir. Hart, por encima de las cifras, es puro corazón. O, como nos gusta decir, un experto de los intangibles: pelea cada balón dividido, corre en transición, brega bajo el tablero como un interior y acepta un rol ofensivo menor cuando la situación lo exige. Durante la primera ronda frente a Atlanta, su sacrificio en la parcela defensiva fue uno de los grandes factores que permitió a los Knicks seguir con vida en la carrera hacia el título.
Su valor, para quienes no se pierden un partido en el Madison Square Garden, va mucho más allá de la estadística.
El precio de Josh Hart
According to The Athletic, two league sources consider that a three-year extension could offer a reasonable compromise for both parties. The range would sit between $55 million and $62 million.
That deal would secure Hart’s future until he turns 35 and would keep his annual salary around $20 million. For the Knicks, it would mean keeping a crucial piece – also emotionally – without inflating the price tag of a roster that already carries several sizable contracts and still has to address other renewals.
OG Anunoby eclipses $40 million per season. Mikal Bridges signed last summer a four-year, $150 million extension. Towns remains in line to negotiate his continuity, and Jalen Brunson will need a fresh raise after having previously forgone a substantial amount to help build this champion squad.
Careful with the apron
On the front office side, the Knicks also need to run their own numbers. James Dolan does not want to permanently park the roster in the second apron, and keeping the championship core will require someone to leave money on the table again. They can’t ask Brunson to do it again.
And while Hart fits the profile, asking a discount from someone who already earns less than the rest of the starting five is not an easy ask. Especially when he is one of the fan favorites, the closest player to Brunson, and a piece who agreed to be the “do-it-all guy” since his arrival.
