Josh Hart is not about to become a free agent, and the New York Knicks do not need an extension to keep him for the coming season.
Hart is guaranteed approximately $20.9 million in 2026-27, and New York holds a team option worth about $22.4 million for 2027-28. The current discussion is about turning that short-term team control into a longer commitment.
The Athletic reported that league sources see possible common ground on a three-year extension worth between $54 million and $62 million. No agreement has been reported. At roughly $18 million to $21 million per year, however, that range explains why a deal is plausible: Hart would gain multiple guaranteed seasons, while the Knicks would retain an essential starter at an annual salary close to what they already pay him.
Why Hart can theoretically receive $132 million
The $132 million figure attached to Hart’s extension eligibility is a maximum permitted by NBA rules, not a reported offer from the Knicks.
Under the collective bargaining agreement, the first season of a standard veteran extension can pay up to 140% of the greater of the player’s final salary under the existing contract or the league’s estimated average salary. The extended salary can then rise or fall by as much as 8% of the first new season’s salary in subsequent years.
Hart and the Knicks can also address his team option as part of the extension. The CBA allows a team and player to simultaneously exercise or decline an option and add new years. If New York declines the 2027-28 option while extending Hart, his $20.9 million salary in 2026-27 becomes the final season of the original deal.
Multiplying that salary by 140% produces a first-year extension ceiling of about $29.3 million. Four new seasons with maximum raises land near the reported $132 million total.
That calculation shows what is legally available. It does not establish Hart’s market value or suggest that the Knicks have considered paying it.
What a three-year agreement would change
A contract in the reported range would most naturally replace Hart’s 2027-28 team option with three new seasons, potentially keeping him in New York through 2029-30. The final dates, guarantees and any option language would depend on the actual agreement.
For Hart, the exchange would be straightforward. He would surrender the possibility of reaching the open market sooner—and perhaps benefiting from continued salary-cap growth—in return for approximately $54 million to $62 million of additional contract value.
For the Knicks, the tradeoff would be the reverse. They already possess the right to keep Hart for two more seasons, including the team option. An extension would give up that one-year decision point and guarantee money deeper into Hart’s 30s.
It would not create immediate cap room. Hart’s existing 2026-27 salary would remain on the books, and the extension would add future salary rather than erase current obligations. Its value to New York would be cost certainty: an annual figure around $20 million could become relatively easier to carry if the salary cap continues rising.
Why Hart’s value is difficult to price
Hart averaged 12.0 points, 7.4 rebounds and 4.8 assists last season, according to NBA.com. Those are not conventional star numbers, but his role on the defending champions extends beyond scoring.
He advances the ball after defensive rebounds, creates extra possessions, connects actions without needing plays called for him and can defend across several perimeter matchups. That versatility allows New York to use him as a guard in one lineup and a forward in another without changing the basic shape of its offense.
His improved shooting also matters. Hart made a career-best 41.3% of his regular-season three-pointers in 2025-26. Opponents have historically been willing to help away from him, so sustaining even part of that improvement would make it harder to crowd the Knicks’ primary creators.
The risk is that New York would be paying for those complementary skills through Hart’s age-34 or age-35 season. Rebounding from the perimeter, transition pressure and constant physical activity are valuable precisely because of the energy required to produce them. The Knicks must decide how confidently those traits will hold up as Hart ages.
Why neither side needs to rush into a bad deal
New York’s leverage is its 2027-28 team option. Hart’s leverage is the possibility of playing out the guaranteed season, maintaining his value and forcing the Knicks to choose between the option and a later negotiation.
That makes the reported middle ground more logical than either extreme. Hart does not need to accept a deeply discounted contract simply because he wants to stay. The Knicks do not need to approach a theoretical maximum when they already control his next two seasons.
A three-year extension around $60 million would effectively settle on continuity. Hart would secure what could be the last major multiyear contract of his career, and New York would keep one of its most adaptable championship pieces at approximately his existing salary level.
Until an agreement is reached, though, the only established facts are that Hart is extension-eligible, remains under contract for 2026-27 and can be retained through the following season. The reported range identifies a plausible destination, not a completed deal.