New Josh Hart Free Agency Development Discouraging for Jazz

This time of year within an NBA season’s cycle is when rumors and whispers of some free agency and trade stories begin to heat up. With only a total of three teams left competing for their chances at a title, it makes sense for this to happen given that the summer has already begun for the other 27.

In this case, we got a little bit of info of how one of the more impactful wings on the market, New York Knicks’ Josh Hart will go about his free agency in July. Not only will he be expected a big payday, but there’s also some mutual interest in his return to the Knicks:

"If I had to guesstimate where I think it’s ultimately going to go, I could see Hart getting a little bit higher towards the $18 million a year mark because of the way the cap is going up.

Tom Thibodeau

loves him... At the NBA Draft Combine in Chicago, the buzz from the Knicks, rival executives, and even rival agents was that

Josh Hart

was going to re-sign with the Knicks. I think four years, $72 million for him, would seemingly be ideal."

- Michael Scotto on Josh Hart’s free agency, via

HoopsHype

For who could potentially be a target for the Utah Jazz, this doesn’t exactly fare well if the front office had some intrigue. Not only is $18 million per season a high price to pay for him (even with the cap space the Jazz have), it seems as if the Knicks will be fighting for him to come back to New York.

Therefore, if the Jazz wanted to make a serious push for Hart, they would likely have to pay an even higher price, and the money is simply spent elsewhere at that point. Considering what should be almost $40 million in practical cap space, spending about half of that on Josh Hart is just a bit unwise for Utah.

During his 2022-23 campaign, Hart posted averages of 9.8 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 3.8 assists on 52/37/75. A crucial piece of what allowed the Knicks to exceed expectations this season, as well as in the playoffs. However, the opportunity to add him to the Jazz’s roster might be hard to imagine with these new implications.

We’ll get see how both the Knicks and Jazz approach free agency officially when the league’s moratorium starts on June 30th.

Follow Inside The Jazz on Facebook and Twitter.

Subscribe on YouTube for breaking Jazz news videos and live-stream podcasts!